Essay on John Keats's To Autumn

*Author's note: These are being published to provide students with a fresh perspective on some frequently-studied works of American and British literature and relevant classic movies shown in progressive English literature classes. Feel free to play around with my point of view but please do not plagiarize in part or in whole. Consider my text a stepping stone and allow your thoughts to flourish in your own writing.

In John Keats's "To Autumn," (written in September 1819) the first stanza introduces the idea that the season Autumn is linked with the maturing world. Through imagery and personification, the speaker illustrates the connection between the ripeness of Autumn and the golden age of mankind.

The first two lines give a complete description of the real basic function of Autumn, "Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;" Once Dr. Wolf Hirst from the English Department University of Haifa Mount Carrnel explained this line by saying, "[It's] ambiguously described as if it too were maturing toward noon or late Summer."

The fourth line of the poem, "With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run," is very intriguing. The reason this line is difficult to pronounce, Hirst says, is because it, "makes the tongue the entwining creepers as the hug wall and roof."

The first stanza opens the door to the breathtaking imagery used in the two following stanzas. The rich texture of the sensuous awareness enables the reader to connect with "To Autumn" and apply it to his or her own life.

The rest of the stanza goes on to give the reader a visualization of fruit and hazel nuts ripening, which again ties back to the sun and the aging process that is Autumn. In this poem, and more particularly in the first stanza, the different seasons represent different stages in a person's life. For instance, Spring relates to birth, Summer equates to adulthood and late adolescence, Autumn relates to the golden years and Winter brings about imminent death. The reader can easily figure this out even though Spring and Winter aren't touched upon until the last stanza.

One could go so far as to say Spring wasn't of particular interest to Keats compared to the other seasons. His almost last-minute mention of Spring seems rushed and trivial. The reader is left wondering if it simply was not an inspiring season, if he simply wanted to place emphasis on Autumn and what it stood for or if he was deeply and spiritually connected (or perhaps feared the symbolism) to Autumn for some psychological reason.