Eac Each guided poetry lesson will cover a different poem from the 17 in the anthology. It is important to remember that you will NOT be allowed to take your annotated anthology in to the exam.

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‘To Autumn’ by John Keats Gourd – large fruit Kernel – edible part of a nut O’er brimm’d – over filled Thee – you Thy – your Gleaner – a person who gathers up the scraps left after the harvest Bourn – small stream ‘To Autumn’ by John Keats

AO3 – Contextual Introduction. INTRODUCTION: Keats describes the richness and wonders of autumn in this poem. An ‘ode’ is a poem usually addressed to an inanimate object or idea that cannot respond. In the poem, Keats compares autumn to a female goddess. At the time, the seasons were often depicted as women in European art. Remember a woman is traditionally a life giver. Biographical Details: Keats initially trained as a surgeon but gave it up to write poetry. Six months after completing To Autumn, he experienced the first signs of the tuberculosis that would end his life. In the poem it is almost as though the medically-trained poet has understood that his life will soon end and he is preparing himself for death. Keats died in 1821 aged just 25. Despite his short life, Keats has had a major impact on poetry and is regarded as one of the most important poets in literary history.

AO3 – Contextual Introduction. The Romantic Movement: Keats is generally classified as one of the Romantic poets. Romanticism was a general artistic movement (literature, music, the visual arts, etc.) which dominated European culture from the last part of the 18th century until the mid-19th century. Among its key aspects were: a deep appreciation of the power and beauty of nature a recognition of the influence of the senses and of personal emotion an understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

AO3 – Contextual Introduction. Overview: In ‘To Autumn’, John Keats paints three perfect autumnal landscapes in three powerful stanzas. The poem moves from the early stages of autumn to the coming of winter. It includes detailed descriptions of different aspects of the season which is seen as beautiful and full of natural wonder. Keats composed this poem after a countryside walk and was excited and moved by what he saw. He has clearly captured the sights, sounds and smells that he experienced here. However, the speaker’s attitude throughout the poem gradually and subtly changes. At the start he is full of joy and wonder at the natural world as he describes the rich abundance that nature offers. By the time he reaches the third stanza there is a shift in his perspective. He becomes more reflective and melancholy as he considers what the passing of time actually means both to himself and humans in general. As readers we are invited to share in Keats’ thought process. We are effectively drawn in by a lively and vibrant description before being asked to consider one of life’s big questions – why are we here?

Ode to Autumn Stanza 1: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Title gives strong indication of subject of poem. Ode to Autumn First stanza is about the fruits of autumn. Overall impression is of plenty. This is the early stage of autumn. Can also be interpreted as early morning – mists tend to appear during the early hours. Alliteration of m sound – creates calming, reassuring, gentle mood. The abundance of nature is emphasised through words like ‘load’ ‘bless’ ‘bend with apples’ ‘fill all fruit’. Images of growth, richness and weight. Stanza 1: Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run; To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, And ¬fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; Personifies the ageing sun (summer nearly over) and the season of autumn. ‘Conspiring’ suggests they have made a secret pact to work together. Harmony between seasons. Maturing, conspiring, budding – suggests it’s ongoing. Everything is growing and moving.

Repetition of ‘more’ gives real sense of how rich autumn is. Continues the idea of abundance and plenty. Now explosion of growth. Continues the idea of abundance and plenty. Stanza 1 cont: To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o’erbrimm’d their clammy cells. Repetition of ‘more’ gives real sense of how rich autumn is. Double consonants (highlighted in red) presents a soothing, gentle tone.

Mid autumn or mid afternoon Visual imagery in stanza 2. Harvesting stanza Mid autumn or mid afternoon Visual imagery in stanza 2. Rhetorical question opens the stanza – asks the reader to consider who hasn’t seen the beauty of autumn. In Rural England at the time the poem was written, these scenes were commonplace. Keats finds beauty in the ordinary. Personification of autumn – made to sound feminine. Autumn is a harvester. Stanza 2: Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,

Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Merciful reaper – reaching end of life but content. Not quite finished but sitting back, quite content. Stanza 2 cont: Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers; And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cider-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours. In Stanza 2, words in bold and underlined relate to relaxation – idea hard work is over. References to intoxication too – poppies, cider Concentrated sweetness – all of the ripeness from stanza 1 is being used – nothing is wasted. Every last drop is used. The pace in the stanza has slowed right down.

Where are the songs of Spring? Aye, where are they? Stanza 3 – Late Autumn or early evening – time of dying. Facing winter/end of things/surrendering and calmly accepting death. Keats acknowledges contrasts between seasons but identifies beauty in all. Stanza 3: Where are the songs of Spring? Aye, where are they? Think not of them, — thou hast thy music too, While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Opening line – rhetorical questions about songs of spring resonates throughout stanza with auditory images – all highlighted in red. Two questions emphasises the distance from Spring as we get closer to winter. Autumn doesn’t have flowers that bloom but clouds bloom. Blending of opposites – wailful choir ‘stubble plains’ – reaper has cut down crops

Nature’s sounds signal the oncoming winter. Stanza 3 cont: Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. Sounds of dusk Nature’s sounds signal the oncoming winter. References to living and dying – soft-dying day, Light wind lives or dies Lambs loud bleat – full grown – know their own time on Earth is drawing to an end.

Autumn is personified and is perceived in a state of activity Autumn is personified and is perceived in a state of activity. In the first stanza, autumn is a friendly conspirator working with the sun to bring fruits to a state of perfect fullness and ripeness. In the second stanza, autumn is a thresher sitting on a granary floor, a reaper asleep in a grain field, a gleaner crossing a brook, and, lastly, a cider maker. In the final stanza, autumn is seen as a musician, and the music which autumn produces is as pleasant as the music of spring — the sounds of gnats, lambs, crickets, robins and swallows. In the first stanza, Keats concentrates on the sights of autumn, ripening grapes and apples, swelling gourds and hazel nuts, and blooming flowers. In the second stanza, the emphasis is on the characteristic activities of autumn, threshing, reaping, gleaning, and cider making. In the concluding stanza, the poet puts the emphasis on the sounds of autumn, produced by insects, animals, and birds. To his ears, this music is just as sweet as the music of spring. The ending of the poem is artistically made to correspond with the ending of a day: "And gathering swallows twitter in the skies." In the evening, swallows gather in flocks preparatory to returning to their nests for the night.