Ode To Autum by John Keats
Ode To Autum by John Keats
BY JOHN KEATS
INTRODUCTION:
The composer of this poem ‘John Keats’ was belonged to the second
generation of romantic poets like Lord Byron and P. B. Shelly. He was counted
as a major poet after Wordsworth. He wrote for a very short duration and
became very famous. He died at the age of 25 because of tuberculosis.
Some of his majorly known poems are – Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to
Autumn, Ode to Psyche, Ode on Indolence, and Ode on Melancholy. The
themes of Keats’s works were love, beauty, joy, nature, music, and the
mortality of human life.
The poem has three stanzas, each of eleven lines. The Rhyme scheme of the
first stanza is ABABCDEDCCE and the last two stanzas’ rhyme schemes are –
ABABCDECDDE. The meter of the poem is iambic pentameter, in which each
line has five iambs consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable.
There are three main themes that John Keats follows in Ode to Autumn
Passage of Time
Power of Nature
Solace of Beauty
In the first stanza, the poet has described the beauty of Autumn. According
to the poet, Autumn is a season of fulfillment. It is a season of ripening the
fruits. Their trees are bent with the weight of fruits. Poet is looking at apple
trees in the garden near the cottage which is covered with moss. The trees
have ripened fruits. It is a season for blooming colorful flowers. The bees are
very happy in this season. The bees taste the sweet juice of the flowers.
Their honeycombs are filled with enough honey.
It seems to the poet that the sun is helping autumn in ripening the fruits.
Keats is a lover of nature. He expresses his keen observation of nature in the
poem effectively. The vine creepers are also very happy with the loaded
bunches of grapes. Thus the poet expresses the importance of the autumn
season beautifully. There is everywhere feelings of fulfillment and maturity in
the autumn season. Green trees with ripe fruits are look everywhere.
In the second stanza, the poet represents the autumn season in many forms
on the fields. He personifies autumn as a harvester, a reaper, a gleaner, and
in lastly a cider presser. At first, the poet personifies Autumn as a harvester
who is sitting near her crop after it he represents Autumn as a crop reaper
who is sleeping near his half-reaped crop and after it, the poet represents
autumn as a gleaner who is going to home fruits which she has gathered in a
day.
She is an expert in crossing the river without losing her balance. At last, their
poet describes autumn as a cider–press. Thus the poet describes autumn in
various forms of a person. Thus Keats is successful to give autumn a great
personality. The works of Autumn in every form are very important.
In the third stanza, the poet describes the various sounds of autumn. The
poet says that autumn does not have sweet music like the spring season.
Therefore the poet is sad. He does not hear the sweet song in the Autumn
season. But after some time he becomes normal as every season has its own
beauty and music. According to the poet, Autumn has its own beauty and
music. The poet hears the sound of Autumn in the evening at the time of the
sun setting. The clouds seem to the poet like the bars of a stove and the sad
sound of insects makes their own music. Their insects are flying near the
riverside among the shrub. The poet also hears the bleating sound of lambs
near the hills. The chirping of the swallows also can be heard in the autumn
season. Now Keats is happy after hearing the different sounds of different
birds and insects in the autumn. Thus the poet is happy to see the beauty of
the glorious music of the autumn season.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, in this poem, John Keats exaggerates the beauty of the Autumn
season. He shows off his readers the power of his imagination Autumn has
often been described in poetry as a Symbol of melancholy hopelessness and
despair but in the view of John Keats, this season brings joy.
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