Ode To Autumn
by: John Keats

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-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed 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-brimmed their clammy cell.

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-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed 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 cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

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 redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

There's the poem; though Keats is such an amazing writer, I'm sure most of you have read this already. I have been assigned to write on a poem of my choice and this is the one I chose. Rather than write simply on the imagery of the poem and how it appeals to the basic senses, I decieded to try something different. Though now I am having a bit of trouble.
I am suggesting that Keats is using nature to reflect our lives.
The first stanza seems to express the coming of age. It contains words like 'maturing' and describes how things are 'load[ed] and bless[ed] - possibly the qualities ppl will be given. The swelling of the gourd seems to refer to pregnancy, and the ability (at that age) to reproduce. Read on in that context, and I'm sure you will be able to see how this could relate.
The 3rd stanza seems to speak of death. There is a repetition of the word death and it speaks of animals as matured. (Possibly reflecting our elderly age) This idea is further re-enforced by the 'mourning' of the animals (eg. those we love when we die) However, death is presented as beautiful and natural- not something to be feared.
Now, my problems.
The 2nd stanza is a big one. Obviously there is a general idea of staticness and docility. Everything seems to be in a state of suspension. This would have to reflect the middle years of our life. (Is the only purpose of this stanza then to tell humanity to slow down and appritate those years?)
Finally, the two symbols: the wind (once gently lifting a persons hair, and then next, living or dying) and the image of a river of some sort are repeated. What do these signify?
I don't know if I am completely off here, but if anyone has any input to further my discussion on this poem, it would be greatly appreciated.
I am terribly sorry for the grammatical mess this must be. I'm in a tad of a hurry.
Thank you again to everyone who responds.
Romi

Interesting ideas Romi, and you have done well with them already.

With poetic interpretation, there's no single correct answer. Poems can have meanings at different levels, and also can mean different things to different readers.

My personal opinion, not necessarily correct, is that Ode to Autumn was principally meant simply as a sensuous description of the Autumn season. It is quite possible however, in line with your theory, that Keats was also using Autumn as a metaphor for human ageing or human maturity; if not deliberately, then unconsciously. You are entitled to pick out the phrases and words that lend support to your theory.

You will probably find it easier if you don't try to treat single words and phrases as if they were direct codes for meanings other than their plain meanings, but rather think in terms of them having meaning overtones (for which they can be symbols) existing in parallel with their plain meanings. Such overtones can each be strong or faint. Moreover they can be subjective to the reader, so you don't need to agonize over whether you have got any particular one correct or not. It's also their collective effect that you are more concerned with.

With the second stanza it might suffice for you to say that many of the images in that stanza evoke a time, or a stage of life, when there appears to be no urgency about anything. You needn't go so far as to say that Keats was telling humanity to slow down and appreciate things, let alone that that was his 'only' purpose. There appears to be nothing in the poem suggesting he was being preachy.

The wind may be a symbol for spirit (like the breath of life).

A river may be a symbol for life's journey. (A brook less so, because it is so much smaller).

Reading the 3rd stanza I thought at first that 'sallows' was a typo for 'shallows', but research shows that it's correct. A sallow is kind of willow. The usually authoritative Bartelby has a hyphen between 'river' and 'sallows', which is missing here. There is a typo at the end of the first stanza: 'cell' should be 'cells'. These two errors are in the version in the Classical Poet List, from which you appear to have copied and pasted.

Good luck with your assignment.

Ian



Post Edited (11-14-04 04:46)

Romi - when do you need this by? I have studied this one, but would have to look at my notes (bit busy at the mo). Incidentally, am I the only one who finds Keates really quite dreary?!

Whoops, see what I mean, can't even spell his name! Ha!

Thanks so much for the input, Ian. I too, upon my initial readings felt that this poem simply spoke in awe of nature; more specifically autumn. However, I tend to like challenges, (not that writing about it in the previous context would not provide such) so I attempted to work out a different interpretation. One that would force me to explicate the poem entirely.
Michelle: This isn't due until the 24th of this month. I just really want to get grounded in my thougths on the poem before I attempted to begin my literary report. So, don't feel to rushed. I'll continue to check this if you need a couple days to get whatever you're needing to be done, first.
Not a problem at all. Thanks so much for taking time to find the notes! :)
Romi