To Autumn Flashcards
What is To Autumn about?
celebrate the season and the various changes which take place during the time. The poem is about autumn and covers the three stages of the season – the beginning when fruit/plants are ready to harvest, the middle when animals go into hibernation and things begin to die, and the end as winter begins
What themes are explored in To Autumn?
The Passing of Time
Natural World
Death
Death quotes
‘Where are the songs of spring’
‘soft-dying day’
‘wailful’
‘the small gnats mourn’
Imply autumn is dying and that Keats’s own life is coming to an end
Nature quotes
‘Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness!’
‘To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells’
‘Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft/ The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft
‘Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness!’
This opening, exclamatory line has tones of sibilance in its description of the weather in autumn. Alliteration is also used to create a slow rhythm to the line, which reflects the fact that everything is slowing down in preparation for autumn. The poet, however, is not displeased by this fact – he seems, instead, to be celebrating the richness of nature.
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
Keats uses active verbs such as ‘plump’ and ‘swell’ to describe the ripeness of everything at autumn time. Everything is at its very best.
‘Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft/ The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
The closing section of the poem is alive with the noises that various birds and insects make. The poet uses sensory language such as ‘sing’ and ‘whistles’ to remind the reader that though the year may be drawing to a close, the cycle of life still goes on.
‘Thee sitting careless on a granary floor’
Keats uses this description to explain that because autumn is a time for harvest, we have no need to worry about food over the coming winter. Autumn is also personified as care-free. The word ‘careless’ is not a negative adjective in this instance, rather it is reassuring the reader that work is done, food is in abundance (‘granary’) and now is a time to be care-free.
songs
Where are the songs of spring?
dying
soft-dying day
gnats
the small gnats mourn
mist
Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness!
swell
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
crickets
‘Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft/ The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft
oozings
Thou watches the last oozing hours by hours
Autumn can reflect upon all it has achieved
