To Autumn by John Keats
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.
Discussion/Comprehension
i.
Read the first stanza and circle two words which you think best describe autumn.
ii.
Point out lines in the first stanza which draw pictures in your mind.
iii.
Name at least three things that autumn and the sun are conspiring to do in stanza 1. How may
autumn confuse the bees?
iv.
Cite three instances in which the spirit of autumn is personified as a farm girl.
v.
What sights are evoked at line 25-26 to picture autumn's beauty? What autumn sounds are
mentioned in the last seven lines of final stanza?
vi.
What does Keats suggest about autumn's beauty and about cyclic pattern of nature? Is this poem
mainly descriptive, or does the poet intrude his moods on the poem?
vii.
What examples of tactile imagery-imagery that appeals to the senses of touch-do you find in"
autumn"?
viii.
What is the theme of the ode?
Application Questions:
i.
ii.
iii.
Does Keat's prefer autumn to the other seasons?
Think of a season and write down two words which can best describe the season. What images do
you usually see in this season?
What kind of person would you like to compare the season to, and in what manner? Describe it.
iv.
v.
What kind of sound do you hear in this season? Make a list of different sounds and describe who
is part of the "orchestra".
Use the above notes as a source to compose your own ode. (Extra Credit)
What is an ode?
An ode is an exalted lyric poem, aiming at loftier thought, more dignified expression, and more
intricate formal structure than most lyrics. Another characteristic of odes is that they often
addressed to someone or something.
An ode is a long lyric poem, serious and dignified in subject, tone, and style, often written to
celebrate an event, person, being or power--or to provide a vehicle for private meditation.
Sometimes an ode may have an elaborate stanzaic structure. Almost all odes are poems of address,
in which the poet uses apostrophe ( repetition of the initial word of thou -a poetic figure of speech
in which inanimate object or absent person is directly addressed).
The ode was originally a Greek form used in dramatic poetry, in which a chorus would follow the
movements of a dance while singing the words of the ode. Those odes often celebrated a public
occasion of consequence, such as a military victory. From those ancient Greek beginnings, the
form has descended through the Western culture to appear in English divested of dance and song.
Irregular odes: they have no set rhyme scheme and no set stanza pattern.
Horatian odes follow a regular stanza pattern and rhyme scheme, as does the ode by Keats.