1.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
2.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
3.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Notes
Form: ababcdecdde
'This poem seems to have been just composed when Keats wrote to Reynolds from Winchester his letter, dated, 22nd of September 1819.
Keats says, "How beautiful the season is now. How fine the air -- a temperate sharpness about it. Really, without joking, chaste weather -- Dian skies. I never liked stubble-fields so much as now -- aye, better than chilly green of the Spring. Somehow, a stubble plain looks warm, in the same way that some pictures look warm. This struck me so much in my Sunday's walk that I composed upon it."
~ Poetical Works of John Keats, ed. H. Buxton Forman, Crowell publ. 1895.
(stanza 3): The term "Hedge-crickets" for "grasshoppers" in line 9 resumes very happily the whole sentiment of Keats's competition sonnet [Sonnet XV.] "On the Grasshopper and Cricket."
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:)
From guest Laura (contact)
Keats seems to be a very good piet and he know's what he is talking about. He definatly helps people who are doing his poem as a GCSE exam. SO thankyou very much! -
From guest Gunay Ildirimli (contact)
I am from Azerbaijan(Baku). I have read this poem too. It is so perfect poem.Everything is lively. I usually don't like poems so much. But this poem find way to my heard. Thanks john Keats -
language of this ode
From guest yasmeen tahira (contact)
being a great lover of nature,keats emlpoys dynamic language in order to display the beautiful colours of nature through describing the mist season.Ode To autumn is agreat master piece of classical poetry. -
It is the purity of emotion, the time to ponder and lift thought with observation to another dimension. It's the voice that speaks to you from within the verse, the melancholy undertow, the whistful regret of passing time yet the absorption of every moment, every experience, every sensation. The identification with life ebbing and seasons approaching the cold death of winter. Each word carries substance and a heart beats within the rythmn.
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There is no narrative voice in this poem, unless you count whoever is speaking at the beginning of verse 3. However, in my view the visionary dreamer still shows through.
The first verse describes the natural effects of autumn and begins to personify the season. At this stage it could simply be a metaphor to describe it as conspiring with the sun.
The second verse describes human activities, with autumn described as a person taking part in all of them. It is hard to believe that he isn't imagining an idealised country girl, with long brown hair and a dress which stays spotless no matter what she's doing!
The third verse starts by addressing autumn (the weakest couplet, in my view), but quickly goes back to describing natural things. Not everyone would think of gnats as musical - their inclusion adds to the poem, helps to stop it being sickly.
The whole poem is fantastic, but the great thing about verses 1 and 3 is that we can still see these things all around us every autumn. Verse 2 is just a romantic vision of the past. -
this is one of my fav poems form john keats. autumn a season of death. where the songs of spring?
beautiful
To autumn
By John Keats
To Autumn written at Winchester, 19 September 1819. First published in 1820.
This ode deals with the some of the concerns presented in his other odes, but there are also significant differences. (1) There is no visionary dreamer or attempted flight from reality in this poem; in fact, there is no narrative voice or persona at all. The poem is grounded in the real world; the vivid, concrete imagery immerses the reader in the sights, feel, and sounds of autumn and its progression. (2) With its depiction of the progression of autumn, the poem is an unqualified celebration of process. Keats totally accepts the natural world, with its mixture of ripening, fulfilment, dying, and death. Each stanza integrates suggestions of its opposite or its predecessors, for they are inherent in autumn also.
As the ode goes ahead, the movement in time can be felt
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ode to autumn
From guest Tania Laghari (contact)
FABULOUS POEM KEATS IS REALY ONE OF THOSE POETS WHO CREAT ARTISTIC PLEASURE IN OUR HEART AND HIS POEMS PERSUADE US TO THINK THAT NATURE IS REALLY BEAUTIFUL AND ETERNAL...HATS OFF TO YOU.. -
Your rhyme scheme is wrong
From guest -- (contact)
its ABABCDEDCCE - stanza 1 ABABCDECDDE - stanza 1 and 2 -
on this piece by john keats
From guest zehra (contact)
i love john keats for the way he writes.this poem makes autumn really special to me .the way it has been written brings the whole pictureseque of autumn in front of my eyes.thank you mr.keats for giving us such melodious & beautiful works -
excellent poem
I loved all parts but my most favourite are lines one to eleven inclusive. Overall very easy to read. A very beautiful poem.
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fabulous
Those words that came from the soul of John keats,
Entered my little heart and became my heart beats. -
Beautiful
Beautiful verse that describes the autumnal season in all its radiant glory -
Near perfection .. thanks to whoever promoted it.
Lisa
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Reading this poem we can learn from one of the best poet. How to use simple words to make a great picture of nature's beauty, and beauty of love feelings. I always said that poem must be like a picture. everything must be visible, or we have to be able to understand poet's intention. Reading this one you can hear, smeell and see...
Thank you for this very nice poem. It was a great tribute to John Keats. -
the last time i read this poem was the night before my english test and the only thing that i remembered about it was the title. i must have done something right because i passed the test but now when i look back at it. oh god i really missed out hindsight can be quite sad.
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One of the most incredible poems Keats wrote...it is rich in imagery and symbolism. The more you read it, the more it grows on you!
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