Ode to Autumn
by John Keats
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John Keats celebrates Autumn as the 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness', the intimate 'bosom-friend' of the maturing sun. In the first stanza the sun and Autumn conspire to load the vines, bend the cottage apple trees with fruit, swell the gourds, plump the hazel shells and set late flowers growing, until the bees believe the warm days will never end. In the second stanza Keats personifies Autumn as an agricultural worker, sitting on a granary floor with hair lifted by the winnowing wind, sleeping drowsily on a half-reaped furrow, crossing a brook like a steady gleaner, and patiently watching the last oozings by a cider-press. In the third stanza he answers the complaint that Autumn lacks the songs of Spring: 'thou hast thy music too.' As soft clouds cast a rosy glow over the stubble-plains, the music of Autumn rises, the wailing choir of gnats, the bleating of full-grown lambs, the singing of hedge-crickets, the whistling robin and the twittering of gathering swallows.
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John Keats (1795–1821) was one of the greatest English Romantic Poets, known for his deep interest in nature and sensory beauty. This ode celebrates the ripe abundance and quiet music of the season of autumn.
Stanza 1, the abundance of harvest
Keats celebrates Autumn as the 'Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness', the intimate 'close bosom-friend' of the maturing sun. Together they 'conspire' how to load the vines around the cottage eaves with heavy grapes, bend the mossy apple trees under their fruit, and fill every fruit with ripeness to the core. They swell the gourds, plump the hazel shells with sweet kernels, and set late flowers growing for the bees, who believe the warm, golden days will never end because summer has 'o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells' with honey.
Stanza 2, the personifications of Autumn
The Granary Keeper
Autumn sits carelessly on a granary floor, her hair softly lifted by the 'winnowing wind'.
The Sleeping Reaper
Autumn sleeps soundly on a half-reaped furrow, 'drowsed' by the heavy perfume of poppies, sparing the next swath of crops and its flowers.
The Steady Gleaner
Autumn stands like a gleaner balancing a heavy bundle of crops on her head as she crosses a brook.
The Cider-Press Watcher
Autumn sits patiently by a cider-press, watching 'the last oozings hours by hours' as the apple juice slowly drips.
Stanza 3, the unique music of Autumn
The poet addresses the common complaint that Autumn lacks the songs of Spring: 'Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? / Think not of them, thou hast thy music too.' He describes the rich, melancholy sounds of an autumn evening as soft, barred clouds cast a warm rosy glow over the harvested stubble-plains.
This music consists of a mournful, wailing choir of small gnats along the river shallows, the loud bleating of full-grown lambs from the hills, the singing of hedge-crickets, the sweet whistling of the red-breast robin from the garden, and the collective twittering of gathering swallows in the evening sky.