to autumn

Question 1

analyse “to autumn”

Answer 1

• suggests that the poem is an ode
• odes are usually lyrical and meant to be sung
• often sung in praise of a specific thing
• romantic poet singing the praise of autumn

Question 2

give quotes for the abundance a nature images and analyse what it reflects in the first stanza

Answer 2

• “fruit the vines” “apples the moss cottage-trees”
• abundance of nature images mirrors the abundance of autumn as it is a time of harvest

Question 3

what is the effect of Keats adding an extra line to each stanza

Answer 3

• odes typically have 10 lines each stanza
• Keats uses an additional line reflecting the abundance of autumn and how it is overflowing with life + bounty

Question 4

what does “with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run” and “to bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees” reflect about man and natures relationship in the first stanza

Answer 4

• the images show that man and nature have an almost symbiotic relationship
• they live in close proximity and almost along side each other
• they have a peaceful coexistence

Question 5

what words help create a celebratory tone in the first stanza

Answer 5

• “mists and mellow”
  “bosom friend”
  “bless”
  “ripeness”
  “sweet”

Question 6

what words create images of work in the second stanza?

Answer 6

• “granary floor”
• “half-reaped furrow”
• “gleaner”
• “cyder press”

Question 7

what words create images of rest in the second stanza

Answer 7

• “sitting careless”
• “sound asleep”
• “drowsed”

Question 8

what effect do the combined images of work and rest have in the second stanza

Answer 8

• have the effect of personifying autumn as a fellow worker, and as somebody who works themself to exhaustion
• suggests that autumn is working as hard, if not harder than man during harvest

Question 9

what is the effect of the rhetorical question “ who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?”
in the second stanza

Answer 9

• the speaker seems to be pushing for the answer nobody -> meaning that everyone sees autumn often in there store house, this suggests that autumn is a keen helper during harvest

Question 10

what is the effect of the quotation “ while thy hook”
in the second stanza

Answer 10

• autumn is personified throughout the poem, here it is compared to the grim reaper, suggesting that death is never far from autumn or that the 2 are strongly interlinked

Question 11

analyse the quote “oozing hours by hours” in the 2nd stanza

Answer 11

• the repetition of “hours” suggests that it took a long time and that time is passing slowly as the workers toil
• by having this repetitive phrase in a stanza so focussed on physical labour, Keats is suggesting that the hard physical labour the workers endured was difficult, repetitive and strenuous

Question 12

analyse the quote “where are the songs of spring, ay, where are they? in the final stanza

Answer 12

the persona almost mocks and criticises spring, as if no other season could compare

Question 13

analyse the quote, “ thou hast thy music too” in the final stanza

Answer 13

personifies autumn as a musician, suggests autumn is beautiful as music is beautiful and capable of evoking a strong sense of happiness in people

Question 14

what is the effect of the words “soft dying day” and “wailful choir” in the final stanza

Answer 14

creates a sad tone, the quotes imply that the end of autumn is worth crying for, creates a sense of loss

Question 15

analyse “full grown lambs” and “red breast whistles” from the final stanza

Answer 15

images of winter creep into the final stanza as the lambs who were born in spring are now “full grown”
- the “red breast” robin is a clear image of winter and “swallows gather” ready to migrate south for winter

Question 16

what is the effect of the “gathering swallows twitter in the skies”

Answer 16

• makes the last image uplifting as the swallows will return just like winter

Question 17

describe how time passes with each stanza

Answer 17

stanza 1- start of autumn “summer has overbrimmed their clammy cells”
stanza 2- mid autumn, harvest, image of work and rest
stanza 3- autumns death/winters birth, autumn cannot last forever

Question 18

context for to autumn

Answer 18

• significant romantic poet- part of the Romanticism movement which puts emphasis on everyday people and things
• parents both died of TB before he was 14, sent to live with his Grandmother
• often suffered from money troubles, including when he was writing to autumn
• inspired by a real life event, walking by the river Itchen and crop fields
• final serious poem of his career, plagued with money troubles, he turned to more lucrative measures of work
• died of TB only 25 in Greece while searching for a cure