Eduqas GCSE Poetry Anthology - To Autumn

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Key Quotations

  • The poem ‘To Autumn’ is an ‘Ode’ which means that it is dedicated to autumn.
  • Keats wrote the poem to celebrate the season and the various changes which take place during the time.
  • The poem is about autumn and covers the three stages of the season – the beginning when fruit/plants are ready to harvest, the middle when animals go into hibernation and things begin to die, and the end as winter begins.
  • ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ the first line of the poem suggests that autumn is a season of change but despite this, it is a calm season.
  • ‘Thee sitting careless on a granary floor’ by personifying autumn it suggests that autumn can be a season which can be quite thoughtless in the changes it brings.
  • Keats continues to personify autumn and addresses it directly – ‘thou watchest oozings’.  He implies that autumn ‘behaves’ as if it has all the time in the world even though time is passing by.
  • The last line ‘And gathering swallows twitter in the sky’ shows that winter is drawing in and time is coming to an end – it could represent the circle of life.

Structure

Context of poem

  • The first stanza is a celebration and it suggests that autumn begins in a rich and calm way.
  • In the second stanza, Keats speaks directly to autumn and makes the suggestion that autumn is in no rush to move on.
  • The final stanza shows change, just as the season is changing from autumn to winter, Keats recognises this and is accepting of the fact he cannot control this.
  • Keats was a romantic poet and wrote a lot about nature and the natural world.
  • Keats died at the age of 25, he was worried that he would leave no lasting impression on the world – this poem could be his attempt to leave his mark and be remembered.

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