Ode to Autumn
The poem 'Ode to Autumn' is not only considered as the masterpiece of the Romantic poet, John Keats but also the most perfect short poem in the English language. Keats has composed it in 1819 after walking through the water meadows of Winchester, England in an early Autumn evening. This work marks the end of his poetic career. The poetic qualities of Keats including his sensuousness, imagination, lyrical quality and objectivity are best exhibited in this poem.
In this poem, the poet has paid homage to the beauty of autumn. Unlike Shelley, Keats doesn't consider autumn as a season of fall instead he takes it as a season of ripeness and maturity. The poem has three eleven-line stanzas each describing the three distinct stages of Autumn; growth, harvest and then last days of autumn leading to winter. The poem is rich with the description of the bounty of autumn, its sights and sounds.
In the very first stanza of the poem, Keats portrays the flamboyant picture of Autumn. He considers it as a season of 'mellow fruitfulness' when all the fruits become mature and ripened. The co-operation of Autumn with the sun bestows earth with fruits of different kinds and fills all the fruit with 'ripeness to the core'.
Close bossom friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
The hazel-nuts are filled with a sweet kernel. There is abundance of flowers for the bees to suck their sweetness. To the bees, it seems an extension of the summer as their sticky cells are popping out with honey. The words like 'load', 'ripeness to the core' and 'swell' allude to the maturity of the season touching the cords of visual sensation as well as sensation of taste by describing the gifts of ripen fruits.
In the second stanza, Keats has personified Autumn gloriously with a woman under four pictures. Firstly, as a harvester sitting carelessly on the granary floor during winnowing. Secondly, as a tired reaper fallen asleep in the very midst of his reaping. Then as a gleaner following his walk home across a book in the evening with a load of sheaves on his head. Lastly, as a cider-presser watching intently the flowing out of juice, drop by drop.
The last stanza of the ode illustrates his contentment with life setting the tone of the whole poem. The poet addresses that here are the songs of spring that enchant all the creatures. Then suddenly says that don't think of them. Autumn has its own distinct music. This unique music can be identified when the sun is dying, sky becomes rosy and the clouds touch its rosy-surface. At that time, the melancholic songs created by the buzzing of gnats, bleating of full-grown lambs and chirping of grasshoppers produce the music of autumn. Finally, there is the twittering of the swallows which are gathering in large numbers ready for their winter migration.
On the deeper context, the poet has actually described the stages of life by demonstrating the different phases of Autumn. The poet says that as Autumn i.e; ripeness and maturity leads to winter, in the same way Man after going through all the successes in his life has to die. But what makes 'Ode to Autumn' distinct and even unique than any other poetical creations of Keats is that instead of falling escaped, he is ready to confront all the bitterness of life. Death doesn't have negative connotation because Keats enjoys and accepts Autumn or maturity as a part of life.
This poem reveals not Keats' pictorial quality only but a deep sense of purpose underneath. The imagery is richly achieved through the personification of Autumn. The images are concrete and vivid. The technique of transferred epithet and the rhyme scheme of ABABCDEDCCE add to the beauty of the poem.
2 comments:
Thankyou soooo much dear ❤️
Appreciated
Post a Comment