With fruit…'
This, I think, is a picturesque way to think of autumn in social life and I think it is an idea that everyone, after reading the poem, takes away with them. Harvest is a familiar sight at the beginning of autumn and this gives a feeling of the plenty fullness to come.
Another good example of personification is in the second stanza, which very effectively portrays autumn as sleepy and that harvest is nearly done:
'on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies…'
This describes autumn as a time when all goes to sleep; animals go into hibernation and trees loose their leaves. The idea that autumn is sleeping on a 'half-reap'd furrow' shows that harvest is nearly over. An interesting thing about this example is that opium, made from poppies, was once used as a drug. My last example is in the second stanza and portrays autumn as a farmer finishing the last bits of harvest, patiently:
'by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings…'
This idea suggests that autumn is quietening down, getting ready for winter and the last harvests are coming through.
Keats uses a great deal of imagery throughout the poem prompting the reader to envisage autumn and how they feel about it. One of the beginning images of the poem is of the 'maturing sun'. This creates the idea that autumn is when the sun is growing old after the summer and it is getting lower in the sky and growing golden. It is a sight that is a characteristic of the beginning of autumn and creates a good start to the poem and the feeling of the fruitfulness to come.
Also in the first stanza, Keats depicts vines running around the roof:
'vines that round the thatch-eaves run…'
This effectively depicts autumn being busy preparing the last-minute fruit and plumping the vegetables. This is a beautiful way to imagine autumn and is a characteristic of late autumn in our minds.
One of the final images of the poem is of the 'small gnats mourn'. This creates an image of the gnats, swiftly flying around, buzzing sadly. In late autumn you often find gnats and as Keats depicts them as mourning, it gives a feeling that autumn is over and winter is arriving.
Another device used in 'To Autumn' is appeal to the senses which is a way of involving the reader by using language which refers to taste, touch, smell and sound. An example of touch is 'clammy cells', used in the idea that summer has over filled the bees. This creates the idea that summer has spoiled the bees of warm days and clammy cells create the feeling of moist, humid bees. This also gives the feeling of the beginning of autumn.
Also in the first stanza there are many words and phrases, which create a ripe, appetising idea, my favourite of which is ' swell the gourd'. This creates the delicious idea of the fruit ballooning out to their potential ability. It really successfully appeals to the senses creating a sense of autumn.
My last example of appeal to the senses is of touch: 'full-grown lambs loud bleat'. This successfully appeals to the senses by giving a pleasurable image of lambs bleating, and as Keats has made them full grown, this creates a sense of the end of the cycle of life and the nearing of winter and appeals to the sense of touch by a delightful sound.
In 'To Autumn', Keats intentionally used sound effects such as alliteration and onomatopoeia which really help to create a sense of autumn. An example of alliteration in the second stanza is 'dying day'. These words are melancholy and give the idea that the pretty month of autumn is drawing to a close. The alliteration helps create a sense of autumn by creating a catchy sound so the reader remembers it.
An example of onomatopoeia is 'oozings'. This helps the reader visualise the cider creeping out of the press by making the sound it makes or the sound we imagine it to make. It also has a long vowel sound so the reader visualises the cider coming out slowly and smoothly.
My last example is 'hours by hours'. This example contains onomatopoeia, so the words seem to take a long time, long vowels, for the same reason, and also soft consonants. The soft consonants cause the reader to think very calmly, sleepily and carefree, so you think of autumn as Keats does.
I think that Keats use of personification is the most effective in creating a sense of the season. This is because I would not have understood what Keats thought about autumn without this. The personification helps bring autumn to life as a human person like me and so I can relate to autumn more. It gives me an idea about autumn's character and what he does. This is my favourite quote:
'Close bosom friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him on how to load and bless
With fruit…'
This is because I love the idea of the sun and autumn working together to produce harvest and it reminds me of my two brothers when they were young, playing and conspiring on how to save the world. This is a wonderful poem and I have really enjoyed studying it and working out all the meanings.
