CC-IX: John Keats : Ode to Autumn short answer type question

1.How does Keats address Autumn in the poem "Ode To Autumn"?

- In the poem "Ode To Autumn", Keats address Autumn as "the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness/ close bosom friend of the maturing sun". First, the season is described as the season of mists because during this season the air carries mists and the mellowness (softness) of the season brings fruitfulness all around; in this season fruits come to maturity. Secondly, the season is described as an intimate('close bosom') friend of the ripening ('maturing') sun because the Autumnal/ sun matures all fruits; the warmth of the sun brings the fruits to ripeness. In other words, it is Autumn's mysterious union with the sun that fills 'all fruit with ripeness to the core'. Obviously, here the season Autumn is seen as the season of ripeness and maturity.

2.How does Keats personify the season Autumn in stanza II of the poem "Ode To Autumn"? 

-In stanza II of the poem "Ode To Autumn", Keats personifies the season Autumn in four different postures which correspond to the different occupations of the season. First, she is seen as the harvester 'sitting careless' on the floor of the granary with her disheveled hair ruffled by the winnowing wind. Secondly, she is personified as a reaper who is found asleep on a 'half-reaped furrow' after the morning's hard work. Thirdly, she is seen as a gleaner who is found carrying the load of grains but keeping her head steady while crossing a brook. Fourthly, the season Autumn is personified as a cider-presser who watches patiently('with patient look' the final tricks of juice from the crushed apples, i.e. the making of the vintage.

              The postures show Autumn as a familiar human figure, thanks to the imagination of the poet. Moreover, the different operations pinpoint the movement of the time cycle and also the effortlessness with which the activities in the natural order are carried out.

3. "Until they think warm days will never cease"- Who are 'They'?  What makes them think so?

-Autumn as the season of 'mellow fruitfulness' brings maturity all around. This maturity is found everywhere in nature- as much in the fruits as well as in the flowers. In fact, certain flowers bloom in autumn. The bees suck the sweetness of these flowers, believe that summer in continuing and their illusion shows the gap between appearance i.e. 'warm days (summer) will never cease' (end) and reality (i.e. the replacement of Summer by Autumn). To be precise, the bees are so dazed in delight that they do not feel the distance in time in which autumn has replaced summer.

4. How does Keats present the slights and sounds of nature in his poem "Ode To Autumn"? 

- In "Ode To Autumn", the poet says that the season Autumn consists of exquisite sights and sounds of nature which have a charm of their own. In fact, the poem offers a catalogue of chiefly visual and auditory images. The fecundity as found in nature during this season adds beauty to the landscape. Even when the harvesting is over and the fields become empty, yet the scene of desolation has its own beauty. The clouds gatherings in long lines are tinged with the colour of the sunset and they cast a 'rosy hue' on the harvested fields. The sounds of nature as caught by the poet's imagination in this season include- the dirge-like music of the small gnats, the bleating of the lambs, the chirping of the hedge-crickets, the whistling of the swallows. In short, these sights and sounds of nature add to the pictorial and sonorous beauty of the season.

8. What is the them of Keats' poem "Ode To Autumn"?

- Keats' poem "Ode To Autumn" is about the fact of process which is an important motif in his major poetry. The poem is a perfect nature lyric based on the poet's praise of the bounty, fecundity and beauty of nature during Autumn. It incorporates in its compass both the rich abundance of the season caught in the climactic moment of fruition and the inescapable fact of change that cause decay and destruction. But the thought of transience, unlike other odes "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale", is treated with serenity and acceptance. Obviously, this serenity comes from maturity whether in human life or in nature.

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