To Autumn by John Keats... an inspiration for a lifestyle..

“To Autumn” is one of the most well-known and perfect odes written by John Keats. It is sad to notice that his greatest piece was the last one that he ever wrote before he passed away, as he was reaching the peak of his art just before his death. We will never really know how great of a writer he could have become. He has an impressive bibliography for someone who died at age 25. However, we can notice some major differences from this ode compared to the rest of them that he has written. For example, there is no “get-away” from reality, or deviation into imagination, in fact there is no narrative voice at all. Also, it has a unique emphasis on change and evolvement, not only through autumn, but through all mortal events in this life. The three-stanza poem seems to accentuate the fact that there are three distinct phases of autumn: growth, harvest, and death. In the first stanza, autumn is a season of fulfilling, yet the theme ending the final stanza is that autumn is a season of dying. However, by using the periods of that season as a metaphor for the course of death, Keats “explains” death in a different, more favorable way. If I were to remember one lesson from this poem, it would be the following: Life is a beautiful occurrence that should not be wasted. Life can be snatched away without warning; it is not to be taken for granted. Also, we will never fully understand the concept of life, not even centuries from now. Enjoy life, even as you get older and it begins to slip away from you. He spreads his message through a certain chronology, some splendid metaphors, and unforeseen elocution throughout the poem. The time frame of the stanzas progresses through autumn and a day as an individual’s life does. It shows that autumn and a day are parallel to a person’s life.
The first stanza takes place in early autumn or the morning (“day wise”). This is shown is passages from the poem. For example, “season of mists” (1) and “warm days will never cease” (10) show this time scenery. “Season of mists” demonstrates that he is referring to the morning because this is when mist appears. “Warm days will never cease” proves early autumn because this is the hottest and most humid time of the year. Actions taken place during the first stanza definitely occur during a morning in early autumn, and those are an analogy to childhood when compared to life.

The second stanza is set in mid-autumn or the afternoon. For example, “on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep” (16), “while thy hook” (17), and “gleaner” (19), indicate to the readers that we are in mid-autumn and afternoon. “While thy hook” and “gleaner” show mid-autumn because these events deal with the harvest, which starts in mid-autumn. “On a half-reaped furrow sound asleep” proves afternoon because the “furrow” is “half-reaped,” thus half way through the day, or the afternoon, and naps are usually taken during the afternoon to rest from a hard morning and get ready for the evening. Mid-autumn and afternoon, in that case, is another analogy to adulthood in life.

The third stanza happens in late autumn or the evening. For instance, “hedge crickets sing” (31) and “gathering swallows” (33) lets us know it is late autumn in the evening. “Hedge crickets sing” proves evening because crickets are known to generate their original sound in the evening hours. “Gathering swallows” proves late autumn because this is when birds get together to flee the region they are installed in to migrate to warmer climates. The elderly years of life are described throughout the passage as well. These facts show that the poem progresses through a single day and the entire season of autumn. This, of course, is not a proof to the entire theme itself, but it implies that life, just like autumn, is progressing.

The “speech” starts out very active in the first stanza, but switches to passive in the second. A logical following would be to have a third stanza explore the passive voice more intently, but instead Keats uses mixed diction. This symbolizes that life starts out in infancy, where you are very energetic and life is close. Then, time passes by and it shifts to adulthood, where life begins to “fly away” from you, and you become more passive. As you progress to the elderly years, life slips even further away, but instead of being even more passive, Keats wants his readers to be active even when they feel that death might be “around the corner.”

The main theme, once again, is to live your life actively until your last minute. I knew a man once who said, “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.” That is a powerful quote I will remember my whole life. Keats’ poem “To Autumn” was just a remainder for me. I would like to mention another quote that I think would match greatly to the context: “In the end, we're all dead men. Sadly, we cannot choose how, or when. But what we can choose is how we decide to meet that end, so we are remembered forever as men.” I believe that is such a true statement and Keats wants us to understand that. This poem was extremely well written, and it gives a tremendous message that everyone should be aware of and that each of us should try to live by.