Poetry: To Autumn

Question 1

Whys: 1

Answer 1

Keats uses the poem as a cathartic means to process and come to terms with his ever-increasing
awareness of his own mortality.

Question 2

Whys: 2

Answer 2

Keats heralds the beauty in every season of life - from birth all the way through to death.

Question 3

Whys: 3

Answer 3

Keats draws comfort from the knowledge that the cycle of life goes on, and nature will persist
after our own lives come to an end.

Question 4

Which themes are present in this poem?

Answer 4

Faith and worship
Passage of time
Change and transformation
Death and loss
Nature

Question 5

Which poems link to this poem?

Answer 5

Afternoons
Death of a naturalist
As imperceptibly as grief
Prelude

Question 6

Poem summary

Answer 6

“To Autumn” is a lyrical poem celebrating the beauty, richness, and peacefulness of autumn. Keats describes the season as full of ripeness, slow movement, and gentle decline. Though it’s about nature, it’s also about life’s final stages, gently suggesting ideas of aging, time passing, and even death—but in a calm and accepting way

Question 7

Context 1

Answer 7

John Keats was a Romantic poet—Romantics valued nature, emotion, imagination, and beauty over science and logic.

Question 8

Context 2

Answer 8

Keats wrote this poem near the end of his short life, possibly aware of his own illness (tuberculosis). This gives the poem’s focus on nature’s cycles and quiet endings a deeper, more personal meaning.

Question 9

What is the form like in the poem?

Answer 9

This is an ode – a structured poem written in praise of something. In this case, Autumn itself.

Question 10

How does the form relate to the content of the poem?

Answer 10

Odes are elevated and respectful, so treating autumn this way shows how Keats sees beauty in change and decline. He’s not mourning summer’s end—he’s appreciating autumn’s richness.

Question 11

What is the structure like of the poem?

Answer 11

The poem has 3 stanzas, each with 11 lines.
Stanza 1: Autumn’s ripeness and fruitfulness.
Stanza 2: A more humanized Autumn, resting and watching the world.
Stanza 3: Sounds of evening and ending, hinting at decline and mortality.
The structure reflects a day’s passage (morning to evening) and also life’s journey (youth to old age).

Question 12

What is the rhyming of the poem like?

Answer 12

Each stanza follows a regular ABAB CDECCDE rhyme scheme.
This adds a sense of harmony and calmness, just like autumn itself—nothing rushed or chaotic.

Question 13

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Answer 13

Nature, Change
Sibilance, alliteration, sensory imagery

Opening line sets a soft, peaceful tone. Suggests autumn is a time of gentle change, full of richness.

Question 14

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun

Answer 14

Nature, Harmony
Personification, metaphor

Shows the close relationship between sun and season—autumn is not lonely, but connected

Question 15

Drows’d with the fume of poppies

Answer 15

Sleep, Death, Time
Symbolism, sensory imagery

Poppies are linked to sleep and death—here, autumn seems peaceful but fading, hinting at mortality.

Question 16

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours

Answer 16

Time, Stillness
Enjambment, assonance

Slow rhythm matches the unhurried pace of nature, showing how autumn accepts time passing.

Question 17

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Answer 17

Change, Transience
Rhetorical question, melancholic tone

A moment of nostalgia or loss—yet it’s not sad for long. Keats turns focus to autumn’s own music

Question 18

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies

Answer 18

Endings, Cycles, Nature
Natural imagery, Symbolism

Final image shows preparation for winter—suggests life goes on. It’s a quiet ending, not a tragic one.