In this study I will be comparing the 2 poems, To Autumn and Ozymandias. I have chosen these two poems because out of the four that we have looked at, I have found these to be the most interesting.

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Scott Bissett 10B

Contrast and Comparison of Poems – Pg1

        In this study I will be comparing the 2 poems, To Autumn and Ozymandias. I have chosen these two poems because out of the four that we have looked at, I have found these to be the most interesting. Ozymandias revolves more around time than nature, whereas To Autumn revolves around nature more than time.

        Ozymandias is on the surface a nice little tale of a big bad man who made a statue that has been destroyed. However if you probe at it, you realise that it is actually all about time and nature destroying everything. I shall go into this further later.

        To Autumn would, at first glance, seem to be simply about Autumn and how it is the “close-bosom friend of the maturing sun” but if you look in detail at the words used you can see that there is an underlying tone that is far more grim.  

        Both poems have both rhyme and rhythm. In Ozymandias, there are 10 syllables per line, except one, where there are 11. In To Autumn, there are also, about 10 syllables per line. As a result the rhythm in both is pretty constant. As well as rhythm, they have rhyme. In Ozymandias, the rhyme is the end of lines 1 & 3 & 5, 2 & 4, 6 & 8, 7 & 10, 9 & 11 & 13, and 12 & 14. In To Autumn the end of all lines in each stanza do rhyme with at least one other, in this way: 1st & 3rd, 2nd & 4th, 5th & 9th & 10th, 6th & 8th, 7th & 11th. This pattern is repeated in each stanza.

        Ozymandias is simply a big single stanza; To Autumn however is a poem with 3 stanzas. But these do not really seem to flow together. They rather seem to be almost different poems. Each stanza carries their own message, which I believe, show John Keats views on various things. For example, the first stanza is to do with life and growth (“ripeness”, “budding”, “plump”), the second is about laziness and inactivity (“sitting careless”, “half reap’d”, “sound asleep”) and the third stanza is about death (“soft-dying”, “mourn”, “dies”). I think this shows Keats’ view on life; that we are born, we live, and then we die.

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Scott Bissett 10B

Contrast and Comparison of Poems – Pg2

        

Another thing that I think this poem shows about Keats is his view on death. I believe that after death, there is nothing to be feared, as if you look at his poem. After the 1st half of the 3rd stanza, all the death seems to have been left behind. It is very musical (“bleat”, “sing”, “whistles”) which I think shows that Keats believes that after death you go to heaven.

        As well as all this, one other thing that I can deduce from reading John Keats’ poem, is that ...

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