ODE to Autumn treatise

ODE TO AUTUMN

BY JOHN KEATS

INTRODUCTION:

“Ode To Autumn” is a very remarkable poem, which has been composed by the great romantic poet John Keats. It was composed in September 1819 and published in the next year 1820. In this poem, Keats explored his critical thinking about the Autumn season. Nature highly influenced Keats, therefore, he always tried to find a chance season that usually created a type of sensation in the hearts of poets. John Keats in this ode exaggerates the beauty of the Autumn season. This poem is full of passion and excitement. He is very much delighted after seeing nature around him in the autumn. ‘Walter Everette’ called him

“The only perfect poem that Keats ever wrote.”

ABOUT THE POET:

The composer of this poem ‘John Keats’ was belonged to the second generation of romantic poets like Lord Byron and P. B. Shelly. He was counted as a major poet after Wordsworth. He wrote for a very short duration and became very famous. He died at the age of 25 because of tuberculosis. Some of his majorly known poems are – Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to Autumn, Ode to Psyche, Ode on Indolence, and Ode on Melancholy. The themes of Keats’s works were love, beauty, joy, nature, music, and the mortality of human life.

RHYME SCHEME AND STRUCTURE OF ODE TO AUTUMN:

The poem has three stanzas, each of eleven lines. The Rhyme scheme of the first stanza is ABABCDEDCCE and the last two stanzas’ rhyme schemes are – ABABCDECDDE. The meter of the poem is iambic pentameter, in which each line has five iambs consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

THEMES OF THE POEM:

There are three main themes that John Keats follows in Ode to Autumn

Passage of Time

Power of Nature

Solace of Beauty

EXPLANATION OF ODE TO AUTUMN POEM:

In the first stanza, the poet has described the beauty of Autumn. According to the poet, Autumn is a season of fulfillment. It is a season of ripening the fruits. Their trees are bent with the weight of fruits. Poet is looking at apple trees in the garden near the cottage which is covered with moss. The trees have ripened fruits. It is a season for blooming colorful flowers. The bees are very happy in this season. The bees taste the sweet juice of the flowers. Their honeycombs are filled with enough honey.

It seems to the poet that the sun is helping autumn in ripening the fruits. Keats is a lover of nature. He expresses his keen observation of nature in the poem effectively. The vine creepers are also very happy with the loaded bunches of grapes. Thus the poet expresses the importance of the autumn season beautifully. There is everywhere feelings of fulfillment and maturity in the autumn season. Green trees with ripe fruits are look everywhere.

In the second stanza, the poet represents the autumn season in many forms on the fields. He personifies autumn as a harvester, a reaper, a gleaner, and in lastly a cider presser. At first, the poet personifies Autumn as a harvester who is sitting near her crop after it he represents Autumn as a crop reaper who is sleeping near his half-reaped crop and after it, the poet represents autumn as a gleaner who is going to home fruits which she has gathered in a day.

She is an expert in crossing the river without losing her balance. At last, their poet describes autumn as a cider–press. Thus the poet describes autumn in various forms of a person. Thus Keats is successful to give autumn a great personality. The works of Autumn in every form are very important.

In the third stanza, the poet describes the various sounds of autumn. The poet says that autumn does not have sweet music like the spring season. Therefore the poet is sad. He does not hear the sweet song in the Autumn season. But after some time he becomes normal as every season has its own beauty and music. According to the poet, Autumn has its own beauty and music. The poet hears the sound of Autumn in the evening at the time of the sun setting. The clouds seem to the poet like the bars of a stove and the sad sound of insects makes their own music. Their insects are flying near the riverside among the shrub. The poet also hears the bleating sound of lambs near the hills. The chirping of the swallows also can be heard in the autumn season. Now Keats is happy after hearing the different sounds of different birds and insects in the autumn. Thus the poet is happy to see the beauty of the glorious music of the autumn season.

CONCLUSION:

Thus, in this poem, John Keats exaggerates the beauty of the Autumn season. He shows off his readers the power of his imagination Autumn has often been described in poetry as a Symbol of melancholy hopelessness and despair but in the view of John Keats, this season brings joy.