Back to: MBOSE English Class 9

In this poem treatment of the subject is perfectly objective or impersonal. Keat’s is himself out of the picture, he only describes certain sights and sounds without expressing his personal reaction to them.

Here is the stanza wise summary of the poem.

Summary of Stanza 1 : In this stanza the poet has described the beauty of autumn. Autumn is the season of mist. It is a season during which different kinds of fruits ripening and it seems that autumn activity cooperates with the sun in bringing about the maturity of the fruit.  The autumn and the sun work together for the ripening of all kinds of fruits. The vines running round the edges of thatched roofs become loaded with grapes during autumn. Apple trees growing in the cottage gardens are covered with moss and are weighed down with fruits. All fruits are filled with sweetness in this season. The gourd grows bigger and the hazelnuts are filled with sweet karnel.  Certain flowers also bloom in autumn. The bees suck the sweetness of these flowers and it seems that these flowers represents a continuation of summer. It was evident in the lines depicting that for the beesthe warm days of summer have not ended. The sticky cells of the honey comb are filled to overflowing with honey . The says that the autumn provide more flowers in case the bees may like to draw more sweetness from them.

Summary of Stanza 2 : The second stanza describes the occupation of Autumn. Autumn is here personified as a winnower , as a reaper, as a gleaner and as a cider- presser. Thus, autumn is here seen as a woman who performs the tasks of winnowing, reaping, gleaning and cider pressing. If anyone wants to see Autumn he may go into the fields and see the woman engaged in the winnowing operation, while the breeze ruffles their locks of hair. This is one of the picture of Autumn.Secondly, we may see Autumn in the shape of a reaper, who is engaged in reaping corn but who in the course of her work is so overcome by the sleep inducing smell of the poppies that she falls asleep, with the result that the next row of corn remains unreaped. Thirdly, Autumn may be seen in the character of a gleaner who is walking alone steadily with the weight of grains upon her head, crossing a stream. Finally, Autumn may be seen in the figure of a woman who is crushing the ripe apples in the wooden press to obtain beer juice from which cider is to be made. This woman sits by the cider press and watches patiently the apple juice flowing out of the press, drop by drop.

Summary of Stanza 3 : In the third stanza, the poet describes the sounds of Autumn. Spring is distinguished by its songs. These sweet songs are not heard in Autumn. But there is no need to feel any regret on that account. Autumn has its own peculiar music. The sounds of Autumn are heard in the evening when the sun is setting, a soft glow irradiates the fields from which the crop has been reaped, leaving the stumps behind. The long- drawn-out- clouds in the sky look like a bars of a grate. At this time, the melanchony buzzing of the gnats is heard. The gnats fly about among the shurbs growing on the river-side . The gnats are carried upwards when the wind is strong, and they come downwards when the wind is feeble. In addition to the gnats singing in a melanchony chorus the bleating of full grown lambs is heard from the hills which bound the landscape. Then there is the chriting of the grasshoppers.Next comes the high, bold and delicate singing of the redbreast which sings from a orchard. Finally, there is the twittering of the swallows which are gathering in large number to get ready for their winter migration. All these sounds are the music of the Autumn.

The poet had a pagan conception of Nature. Thus, he has very brilliantly depicted the full grown beauty of Autumn, with all its charms, in his ” Ode to Autumn”.

Questions & Answers

Q. Prove that ‘To Autumn’ is a song of ripeness?
The poem ode ‘To Autumn’ has been written by the master of word pictures, John Keats. This poem is remarkable for its appeal to the sense, its work pictures and imagery. The poet presents the season of Autumn as a season of mist and mellow fruitfulness. It is a song of ripeness and abundance. The poet says that autumn brings fresh and juicy fruits in abundance. It along with its close friend sun plans to load the cottage trees with abundant fruits. The warmth of the sun ripens the fruit and fills sweetness to their core. All the fruit and flowers grow in such a large quality that the branches of the trees bend down by weight. The poet says that ripeness reaches to its maximum in this season.

Q. What are the two friends Autumn and warm sun?
Ans. The poet ‘John Keats’ presents a sensuous picture of autumn in this poem. He calls autumn a close friend of the warming sun. The poet says that both the friends plan to load and bless the trees with fresh and fruity juice. There are grapevines and old apple trees around the cottages in the field. Autumn and the warm sun conspire to bless the trees with abundant fruits which bend their branches. Both the friends fill sweet her to the core of fruits. The fruits become juicy and sweet. Autumn and the sun bring gourd, hazel fruit and abundant flowers. They set the budding so much that the bees think that warm day will never come to an and. Their beehives get over brimmed with sweet honey.

Q. What are the four images of personification?
Ans. The poet John Keats has personified the season of autumn in this ode. He presents vivid images of autumn in this poem. Autumn has been picturized in four different images viz harvester, reaper, gleaner and cider-maker. The poet sees autumn as a harvester who is sitting careless on a granary floor and his hair is gently lifted by the winnowing wind. In the next image, autumn is seen as a reaper ( crop cutter ) who gets tired after cutting half of the crop strip and sits at the furrow. The fume of poppies makes him intoxicated and he falls asleep. Then Autumn is shown as a gleaner who carries the bundle of corn on his head and crosses the brook carefully on his way back to his cottage. Lastly, the poet sees the autumn as a cider maker who is standing by a cider press and watches the last drops of juice being extracted from fruits. The poet beautifully creates the pen pictures of autumn in four different images.

Q.  “Thou………too” what objects does the poet find Autumn’s music in?
Ans. The poet presents autumn as a symphony of sound saying that not only spring but autumn has its own music. He says that it is not the time to think about the songs of spring because autumn is served by its own music by various objects of nature. He says that when it gets dark, the small gnats sing in a painful chorus along the riverside. There are willow trees on the bank of the river which sway as the light breeze lives or dies. The music of autumn is audible when the trees sway and the small gnats sing. The poet listens to the music of autumn in the loud bleat of lambs from the hilly bourn. The sound of autumn is audible in the singing of hedge crickets. A robin bird sitting on the fence of a garden produces its trembling voice and the swallow birds flying in the sky twitter which make the music of autumn. The poet says that all these objects of nature produce the music of autumn.

Q. Keats is a master of word pictures. Explain some of the word – pictures from the poem.
Ans. The poem to autumn is the last of ‘John Keats’ five great odes. This poem is a great example of word picture and imagery. Keats is known as the master of word pictures. In this ode, he presents beautiful images of the season of Autumn. He presents autumn as a season of mist and mellow fruitfulness. The projection and cottages with vines and old apple trees around them create beautiful pictures in the readers’ mind. The poet shows various colours of autumn which appeal to our eyes. The second stanza depicts four images of autumn as a harvester, reaper gleaner and cider maker. The poet imagines autumn doing rest or some work in these forms. Then Keats describes a beautiful evening of autumn which creates lovely pictures and appeal to the sense of perception. This poem truly establishes Keats as the master of word pictures.

Q. What is an ode? Compare ‘To Autumn’ with ‘Our Casuarina Tree”.
Ans. An ode is a song of admiration in which the poet expresses his emotions towards the subject matter of the poem. An ode is always an address to some noble thought, idea or diety. It is a serious, noble and dignified form of lyrical composition in a regular stanza form. It is always elated in tone and refined in language and style.
The poem ‘Our Casuarina Tree’ by Toru Dutt and ode ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats are good examples of this form of poetry. Although both the poems are odes, get they carry certain difference. The poem by Toru Dutt is not a pure ode. In fact, it is a combination of an ode and an elegy. The poetess admires the casuarinas tree because of her brother and sister who are no more in the world. There is a personal affinity of the poetess towards the casuarina tree. On the other hand ode ‘To Autumn’ Expresses true admiration of John Keats towards the season of Autumn. The tone here is somewhat more elated and dignified. The poet admires the season and presents it as a season of fresh and juicy fruits, flowers for the bees and success for the farmers.

Q. What Autumn Plan to do with the cottage trees?
Ans. In this poem, the poet John Keats considers the season of Autumn as a season of mist and mellow fruitfulness. He personifies Autumn and says that it brings fresh and juicy fruits in abundance. Autumn plans to load and bless the grapevines around the cottages with juicy fruits. It bends the old apple trees with abundant apples. It also fills ripeness and sweetness to the core of these fruits.

Q. Why does Autumn intended to ‘set budding’ the late summer flowers?
Ans. Autumn is a season of ripeness and abundance. The Season intends to set budding more and more which latter becomes flowers for the bees. The flowers bloom in such a great abundance that the bees think those warm days will never to an end. The bees suck the nectar of flowers to make honey. Their heaves are over brimmed of honey and get the flowers to keep coming endlessly.

Q. How are the honeycombs after the summer?
Ans. Autumn and the sun intend to set budding more and more which later becomes flowers with the arrival of summer days. The bees suck the nectar of these flowers to make honey. The flowers keep blooming in such a large quantity that the honeycombs get over brimmed with sweet honey. The bees get tired of collecting juice of flowers and make honey. They feel that the summer days will never come to an end.

Q.  How can Autumn be seen as a harvester?
Ans. The poet has personified Autumn in this poem. He sees Autumn as a harvester. The poet says that Autumn as a harvester is sitting careless on a granary floor. He has done his work and feels quite relaxed. His mind is without any worry and there is a look of contentment aver his face. The winnowing wind gently lifts his hair.

Q. How does the poet describe the crop culture?
Ans. The second image of Autumn seen in the poem is of a crop culture. The crop cutter reaps the strip of crop and does all the hard word. He gets tired after cutting half of the strip and sits on the furrow to take some rest. The gentle breeze & fume of poppies make him intoxicated and he feels sleepy. He fats asleep while his hook is kept there. He has still to cut the next swath.

Q. What is cider maker doing?
Ans. The last image of personification of the autumn season is the eider maker. The poet describes the eider maker standing by the cider press. There is a patient look on his face as he watches the last drops of juice being extracted from fruits. He is satisfied that his hard work has born a success.

Q. Describe the scene of the earth at sunset.
Ans. The poem ode ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats is rich in pictorial quality. The poet describes the scene of the earth at sunset. He says that a day of autumn gently comes to an end as the sun swiftly moves to the horizon. There are barred clouds in the sky everywhere. The twilight colours of the sun touch the stubble plains in the bare cornfields. The poet feels a little sad at this moment.

Q.  Where do the small gnats sing from and how does?
After the sun sets and darkness spreads all over, the poet listens to the music of Autumn. He says that the small gnats along the riverside sing in chorus in their wailing voice. When the wind lives or dies and the willow trees sway, the poet can listen to the music of Autumn. This music is clearly Audible and reaches the poet.

Q.  Do you find a reminder ……… become happy?
Ans. The poet feels sad when the day of Autumn comes to an end. He expresses his sadness in the wailing choir of the small gnats. But then he realises that all the good things come to an end at some time & So the day of Autumn has reached its destination. Later on, he overcomes the sad moment and becomes happy because he realises the wealth of nature and expresses his faith in this philosophy. He feels contented hearing the music of Autumn.