To Autumn - John Keats

Question 1

when was this poem published?

Answer 1

1820

Question 2

themes?

Answer 2

• nature
• love - passionate and admiration
• time - about a particular season and a clear sense of progression throughout the poem
• place - mans interaction with land
• man
• death - autumn almost dies at the end of the poem, and nature must die in order for man to benefit from it

Question 3

poet context

Answer 3

• one of the most significant Romantic poets
• both of Keats’ parents died before he was 14 so he had difficult family life
• often suffered with money troubles, including the autumn of 1819, which was when was was writing this pome
• inspired by a real-life event when Keats walked alongside River Itchen, near Winchester in September 1819
• this poem marks the final stage of his poetic career
• died of tuberculosis in 1821, aged 25

Question 4

what does bosom-friend mean?

Answer 4

close friend

Question 5

what does thatch-eaves mean?

Answer 5

the part of a thatched roof that hangs over the wall

Question 6

what does gourd mean?

Answer 6

a type of fruit, includes pumpkin and squash

Question 7

what does kennel mean?

Answer 7

the bit of a nut that you eat

Question 8

what does cells mean?

Answer 8

part of the bees’ honeycomb

Question 9

what does winnowing mean?

Answer 9

blowing air through grain to get rid of the inedible bits

Question 10

what does furrow mean?

Answer 10

a line in the earth made by a plough

Question 11

what does swath mean?

Answer 11

a line of reaped crop

Question 12

what does gleaner mean?

Answer 12

a collector of fallen grain

Question 13

what does sallow mean?

Answer 13

willow trees

Question 14

what does bourn mean?

Answer 14

a small stream or boundary

Question 15

what does treble mean?

Answer 15

a high-pitched singing voice

Question 16

what is the meaning of this poem?

Answer 16

• in this poem, Keats traces the progression of autumn
• in the first stanza, he describes autumn as a time of bounty
• in the second stanza, autumn is personified as a farm worker during harvest, as Keats describes the hard work that is done during this time
• in the poem’s last stanza, Keats reflects on autumn’s passing and winter’s impending arrival, which is shown to be sad

Question 17

what is the mood of this poem?

Answer 17

• the poem’s mood is generally celebratory, typified by the poem’s first line: ‘seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness!’
• this tone is maintained throughout the poem, until the final few lines (‘wailful choir’), which create a sad tone as autumn is ending

Question 18

what was the motivation for the poet to write this poem?

Answer 18

• as a significant Romantic poet, Keats wrote this poem to celebrate nature, and in particular, the season of autumn, which sees man and nature work together for man’s benefit before the harshness of winter
• the passing of time is central to this poem, and Keats may have explored this idea as he reflected on the end of his writerly career due to financial problems

Question 19

title: ‘To Autumn’

Answer 19

STRUCTURE:
- the title suggests that this poem is an ode, a kind of lyric poem that is meant to be sung
- odes are sung in praise of a specific person or thing, and in this case it is autumn
- Keats is a Romantic poet

Question 20

‘mists and mellow’
‘!’
‘bosom-friend’
‘bless’
‘ripeness’
‘sweet’
‘flowers’

Answer 20

LANGUAGE:
- Keats use of language and punctuation in this stanza creates a celebratory tone
- the language is overtly positive and is being used as praise
- the ‘!’ makes the statement sound exclamatory
- sibilance is also used to create euphonic sounds

Question 21

‘Conspiring’

Answer 21

LANGUAGE:
- this verb makes it sound like autumn is plotting with the sun
- this is an intimate portrait of autumn and the sun

Question 22

‘fruitfulness’
‘fruit the vines’
‘apples the moss’d cottage-trees’
‘fill all fruit’
‘swell the gourd’
‘hazel shells’
‘With a sweet kernel’
‘budding’
‘later flowers for the bees’
‘warm days’
‘clammy cells’

Answer 22

IMAGERY:
- the abundance of nature imagery could relate to the abundance of autumn
- autumn is a time of harvest; a sudden time of plenty
- pastoral imagery is used which is very bucolic
- these images create an image of fertility and the continous cycle of growth

Question 23

‘With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees’

Answer 23

IMAGERY:
- these images show man and nature to have an almost-symbiotic relationship, as they live alongside each other in a peaceful co-existence
- this is very idyllic and bucolic imagery

Question 24

‘Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?’

Answer 24

LANGUAGE:
- the rhetorical question suggests that autumn is an excellent helper during harvest
- this is a romantic image of autumn which suggests she is lounging in the store (which is where the harvest is put)
- ‘thee’ shows it is a direct address to autumn
- autumn is presented as a goddess here

Question 25

'sitting careless' 'sound asleep' 'Drows'd' 'fume of poppies' 'granary floor' 'half-reap'd' 'hook' 'gleaner' 'cyder-press'

Answer 25

IMAGERY: - the first four quotes are images of rest (poppies have narcotic properties) - the last five are images of work - combined, these images have the effect of personifying autumn as a fellow worker, as somebody who works themselves to exhaustion: autumn is working as hard, if not harder, than man during harvest

Question 26

'while thy hook Spares the next swath'

Answer 26

IMAGERY: - autumn has been compared to the Grim Reaper, suggesting that death is never too far from autumn - suggests autumn and death are interlinked

Question 27

'oozings hours by hours'

Answer 27

STRUCTURE: - the repitition of 'hours' suggests that time is passing slowly as the workers toil - the second stanza is very focused on physical labour - this line suggests their work is difficult, repetitive and strenuous - the repitition of the vowel sounds creates assonance

Question 28

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

Answer 28

LANGUAGE: - the persona criticises spring for not having its sounds present - this assault on spring suggests that the persona thinks autumn is the best season - the third stanza celebrates the auditory soundscape of nature

Question 29

'thou hast thy music too'

Answer 29

IMAGERY: - the personification of autumn as a musician suggests that autumn is beautiful and brings happiness and others emotions to people

Question 30

'soft-dying day' 'wailful choir' 'mourn' 'dies'

Answer 30

LANGUAGE: - a sad tone is created in the third stanza, suggesting a sense of loss and implying that the end of autumn is something worth crying about - this negative language creates a semantic field of sorrow

Question 31

'songs' 'music' 'choir' 'bleat' 'sing' 'treble soft' 'whistles' 'twitter'

Answer 31

LANGUAGE: - a semantic field of sound is created in the third stanza which is immersive for the reader - it is clear the narrator enjoys the sounds of autumn - sensory imagery

Question 32

'And full-grown lambs' 'red-breast whistles' 'And gathering swallows twitter in the skies'

Answer 32

IMAGERY: - wintry images have been used to mark the imminent end of autumn

Question 33

'And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.'

Answer 33

IMAGERY: - the last line of the poem is an uplifting image that suggests the swallows with return; demonstrating the cyclical nature of time - autumn will return STRUCTURE: - this is the only line with 11 syllables, which suggests that the narrator is overflowing with emotion, and feelings are bursting out of the poem LANGUAGE: - 'skies' celebrates the world - 'swallows' are a symbol of liberty, freedom and returning which suggests autumn will return; providing a hopeful tone - swallows migrate in winter, which symbolises the end of autumn - this could symbolise the end of Keats life

Question 34

structure

Answer 34

- the extra line (odes typically have 10 lines per stanza, in this poem, it is 11 lines per stanza) - this could reflect that autumn is practically overflowing with life and bounty - enjambment is used frequently across each stanza, which could suggest immense passion on the part of the persona, about autumn - time progresses with each stanza: stanza 1 is about the start of autumn, stanza 2 is about mid-autumn with images of work, rest and harvest, and stanza 3 is about autumn's death and winter's birth - this suggests autumn cannot last forever - melodic rhyme scheme could reflect the movement of walking - has perfect iambic pentameter which is mimetic of the cycles of nature

Question 35

form

Answer 35

- ode - direct address - epigraph - romantic poem - monologue