In To Autumn John Keats vividly describes the three stages of Autumn from a "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness" through a time after the harvest and finally to the first signs of approaching winter. John Keats was considered one of the greatest poets of the Romantic genre. Written in September of 1819, this piece is regarded as his most achieved ode. To Autumn thoughtfully compares the circuitry of the seasons to life's own circular motion.
In Stanza I, Keats conveys a sense of ripened fullness. The pre-harvest season has caused the trees "to bend with apples" and the crops are continually "budding more." The Sun is called Autumn's "close-bosom friend" and together they tend the fields until they are overbrimming. Keats uses verbs such as swell, plump, and load to further convey that it is a plentiful time. Alliterations like "mists and mellow" and "fill all fruit" present the busy mumbling sounds of the .
growing harvest. .
Later, the second stanza depicts the time after the harvest. Autumn is personified when he is "sitting careless on a granary floor." All of the harvesting is complete and Autumn is admiring his work. He is near "by a cyder-press" and watches as many people reap the benefits of a job well-done. Keats also uses consonance with 's' sounds to illustrate the sound of a tired, droning calm that follows the hard harvesting work.
In the last stanza, a sense of peace is conveyed. Autumn will soon fall into Winter. The "soft-dying day" will circulate into another morning as the ending of Autumn will flow into the first signs of Winter. Such is the circuity of Keats' life, as well as our own. The fallow fields hold a beauty unique to Autumn's season. "The stubble-plains" are full of song, although they are barren. The "wailful choir" of knats and swallows is music fit for slumber. Autumn will soon be sleeping and Winter will awaken.
John Keats does achieve his purpose in this ode.
