To Autumn by John Keats

Question 1

What does Keats use To Autumn as a vehicle to?

Answer 1

To promote his love of nature and the transcendent aspect of nature through the perfect maturity shown through the imagery of fertility. He also exposes the cyclic nature of nature, through the passing of the seasons

Question 2

Initially point

Answer 2

Through the excessive imagery of fertility, Keats is highlighting the fact that nature is cyclical and therefore gives new life, especially during the season of autumn

Question 3

Initially… (quote 1)

Answer 3

“Conspiring with him how to load and bless”

• through the personification of the sun a sense of comradery between different components of nature, the fertility for nature is emphasised
• “load and bless”- is a reference to the strain that new life brings, but argues that it is indeed a blessing

Question 4

Initially… (quote 2)

Answer 4

“To set budding more”

- This suggests that the autumn is setting the stage for the new life in spring

Question 5

However, as the text develops point

Answer 5

Autumn seems to begin to fade and the initial semantic field of fertility is now contrasted with references to the life, or rather the lack of it

Question 6

As the text develops… (quote 1)

Answer 6

“Half-reap’d furrow sound asleep”

• “Half - reap’d” suggests that only half of the crops have been harvested, suggesting a lack of care or the fleeting nature of life, due to the cold dark winter to come, which symbolises death
• “sound asleep” is in reference to the potential hibernation period during winter, which promises new life in the spring

Question 7

As the text develops… (quote 2)

Answer 7

“Last oozings hours by hours”

• “last” is reference to the end of a season of fertility and new life, ultimately, this is a reference to Keats recognition that he has passed the prime of his life and is now dying of tuberculosis just like his family and has now recognised it and chosen to use the seasons to help him process his feelings

Question 8

Ultimately point

Answer 8

Keats uses explicit references to death to show the cyclical nature of life and the transcendance of time as it continues beyond his death from tuberculosis. Perhaps, the references to death are his way of processing his own inevitable death to tuberculosis.

Question 9

Ultimately… (quote 1)

Answer 9

“Soft-dying day”
The juxtaposition of death being soft suggests that this death is pleasant, and that he has had time to process it
- Keats uses the passing of time and the end of a day to signify his inevitable death

Question 10

Ultimately… (quote 2)

Answer 10

“swallows twitter in the skies”

• The reference to the swallows implies that Keats has accepted his inevitable faith and is using the imagery of these migratory birds to shows that he knows that he must move on, just as the birds do.