Furthermore, nature is again illustrated effectively to the reader in the first stanza as Keats hints at a relationship between the sun and the season of autumn:
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
The word ‘conspiring’ highlights a relationship between the sun and the season of autumn and indicates how they are working together in some way to “fill all fruit with ripeness to the core”. This simple relationship, which Keats highlights, demonstrates how the different aspects of nature have the ability to work together to produce good results, which are, in this case, ripe fruits. Keats continues to portray nature effectively to the reader by emphasizing the flow of nature through careful sentence structure. An example of this is when he begins to discuss how hazel shells should be filled with sweet kernel “to set budding more, / And still more”. The break in this quotation causes the reader to pause, placing emphasis on the section of the quotation that appears after the break. The purpose of this construction is to stress the importance of the flow of nature to the reader and to give the impression that the hazel shells are forever budding, symbolizing how often nature repeats itself.
In the second stanza, Keats refers to the weather by mentioning the “winnowing wind”. This is an example of an effective use of alliteration as the repetition of the ‘w’ has the effect of making the wind seem fast and brisk. The second stanza, as a whole, appears to mimic the flow of nature because of the mellifluous quality of the words, since they seem to flow together seamlessly. In addition, Keats makes reference to time in the last line of the stanza, with the phrase “hours by hours”. This continues to emphasise what the poet has already mentioned. It gives a strong idea of timelessness in connection with nature and gives the impression that things are happening at a slow pace and very gradually.
Further on in the poem, Keats continues to use alliteration, however this time the alliteration is hard, as demonstrated when he mentions the “soft-dying day”. The repeated ‘d’ sounds show how the alliteration has changed since the beginning of the poem and is no longer soft. This obvious change could signify how winter is drawing closer and that autumn is ending. As the poem develops, everything seems to gradually move towards winter and so becomes hard and harsh.
Moreover, Keats refers to nature in a different manner in the third stanza. He begins to mention the sounds made by animals. For example, reference is made to how “in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn” and how “full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn”. The sounds made by different animals continue to be emphasised throughout this stanza by the poet’s use of words such as “twitter”, “sing”, and “whistle”. The variety of noises and sounds made by the range of animals could signify how the animals are expressing their views. The use of “wailful” and “mourn” give the strong impression that the animals are not entirely at ease with the imminent change of season and also give the indication that they may be unhappy about it. This could be Keats’ attempt at showing how animals generally prefer autumn to winter, just as he does.
The last line of the poem mentions how “gathering swallows twitter in the skies” and this is a likely indication that they are preparing to migrate for the winter and move to more pleasant climates. This continues the idea that the animals do not like winter and so, in the case of the birds, leave. The last stanza, as a whole, shows a change of environment as the season of autumn draws to an end. Keats manages to maintain the slow pace throughout this stanza by the use of monosyllabic words such as “touch”, “bloom”, “mourn”, and “bleat” which cause the stanza to appear disjointed and therefore have a clear effect on the speed at which it is read.
“Ode to Autumn” is a poem which is a powerful portrayal of nature and demonstrates the action of different aspects of nature to the reader. At one level, it is simply a tale of the season of autumn with full and vivid descriptions of nature at work. However, at another, it is a hugely effective piece of poetry which serves to investigate the different characteristics of nature during the season of autumn. In the last stanza in particular, it is interesting for the reader to observe how Keats shows the reactions of many different species of animal as winter approaches. It is fair to say that the reactions of the animals reflect his own opinion on winter. Just like the animals, he is determined that the season of autumn should not end. For him, autumn is a time when a new world emerges, complete with so many fascinating characteristics. The richness and quality of description in his poem proves to the reader that it is a shame to leave this world behind as winter approaches.
