One major feature of the poem is Keats' use of personification, most noticeably in the second stanza. Keats uses personification to express the character he imagines autumn to be so the reader can understand autumn and relate to it. Another reason why his use of personification is so successful is that it brings autumn to life. One example of personification very effectively portrays autumn and the sun working together to produce plump, ripe fruit:
'Close bosom friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him on how to load and bless
With fruit…' (lines 2-4)
This is a picturesque way to think of autumn in social life and it is an idea that everyone, after reading the poem, takes away with them. In conjunction to this, 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…' (lines 16-17)
This describes autumn as a time when everything 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, inducing soporific qualities. 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…' (lines 21-22)
This idea suggests that autumn is quietening down, getting ready for winter and the last harvests are coming through. Also the word “oozing” implies a certain sluggish nature where things are tiring and withering.
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…' (line 4)
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. It is also a symbol for the youth of autumn. One of the final images of the poem is of the 'small gnats mourn' (line 27). 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. Alongside this visual imagery, Keats’ uses lots of sexual imagery in the first stanza while autumn is still young and ‘fruitful’. Words such as ‘conspiring’, ‘bosom’, ripeness to the core’, ‘sweet’ and ‘plump’ all have sexual connotations and evoke a mischievous nature of the youthful seasons of spring and summer.
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. Along with this Keats’ uses dramatic irony as the speaker, unlike the bees knows that this won’t last. 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, such as 'swell the gourd', ‘apples’, ‘ripeness to the core and ‘plump the hazel shells’. This creates the delicious idea of the fruit ballooning out to their potential ability. It successfully appeals to the senses creating a sense of autumn. Keats also uses the motif of fullness in the first stanza when he uses words such as ‘load’ ‘fill’ ‘more’ and ‘o’er-brimm’d’, symbolizing the abundance of joy and food in summer. This joins with the motif of grain in the second stanza as Keats uses diction such as ‘Granary, winnowing and reap’ which are all harvesting terms to reiterate the resemblance between grain and blooming nature.
In the final stanza, Keats’ makes good use of both positive and negative auditory imagery which gives us different perspectives on the approach of winter. He uses negative words such as ‘wailful’ and ‘mourn’ which shows the discontent of the speaker. However, there is more positive diction towards the end with ‘whistles’, ‘sings’ and ‘twitter’ which illustrates the music of autumn. This also exemplifies the change in nature and emphasizes that change is good. This is ironic because in the first two lines of stanza three he makes use of two rhetorical questions which gives the feeling that change is negative along with the words ‘soft dying day’ which shows the change from day to night, a much smaller and more frequent change as compared to the change form autumn to winter.
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 third 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. Finally Keats’ says '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.
