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Keats' To Autumn Essay

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John Keats was an English romantic poet in the early 1800s. One of his best works “To Autumn” is beautiful and lyrical, the words creating an entire scene painting a picture in our minds of great imagery through words that create color, tone, and environment. The poem means much more than just the description of the season. While some critics have considered it a static poem, there are others who disagree with that assessment. The poem discusses time and the seasonal nature of life. The poem can sometimes be thought of as symbolizing a life that has reached its peak and is drifting towards the sleep of winter. The construction of the poem as a piece of language art has been done with skills that are surprising and inventive. While it is …show more content…

The second verse describes the labor of autumn as the harvests are processed and the end of the long cycle of the season is prepared. Autumn is a season of storing of grain, the pressing of apples to cider and preparations that come with caring for the harvested food that must be tended to in order to prepare for the long sleep of winter. Autumn is given human characteristics as it begins its long journey towards the end of its day with all of the applications of labor overseen by the person that represents the season. We can see this In the last phrase, Keats states “And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across the brook Or by a cider press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours” (Nemoianu 205). The third verse uses the poet’s tool of personification of autumn, meaning he assigns human characteristics to the season itself. Keats tells Autumn that she is just as beautiful as spring for the music she creates. The verse praises of the beauty of Autumn, creating a sense of the color and warmth that exists even though age of the seasons has arrived. The imagery has reds and yellows even though it is not specifically stated. There is the feeling of sound that exists within the music of autumn. The way in which Keats presents the

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