The first stanza of the ode is a building process for Keats where he gives us a picture of the landscape,
“And fills fruit with all ripeness to the core”
“To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells”.
This use of language creates a rather humble and peaceful atmosphere for the reader. It emphasizes the harmony of autumn, and it could be seen as a metaphor for the slowing down of life during autumn.
In the second stanza, Keats starts filling up an almost perfect picture with his imagination, moving the background from the ripened fruit to the cider press. He personifies autumn embodying it in the daily labors of harvest time. The line, “sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find” shows us how Keats’ state of mind has changed from the earlier odes; he now seems to hold such optimism for life. The start of the second stanza is very weary and sleepy:
Thy hair soft- lipped by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half- reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies while they hook,
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
The second half of this stanza consists of the realization of Autumn in a physical action, representing a girl as Autumn, describing hoe Autumn helps the fruits and crops grow and how it watches as they are harvested.
The third stanza compares autumn to spring and this is where the true meaning of the poem is conveyed:
Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,-
Keats has recognized the almost cliché use of Spring, as new life in Romantic poetry, and even before. He takes the positives out of autumn- the lambs are strong enough to look after themselves,
“Full grown lamb’s loud bleat from hilly bourn”
To Autumn sees the conclusions of many of the themes which have been brought up in “Ode on Indolence” and the other odes. One of the main themes brought up throughout the other five odes is the anguish of morality and transience.
Keats had a very harsh childhood losing both his parents and his brother at an early age and so it is understandable that he should have a dim view of life.
This theme is introduced in “Ode on Indolence” and can be traced through the odes. In indolence he wants to stay in his state of numbness as he knows that if he experiences the joys of love, ambition and poetry as he knows they won’t last for long, “from a mans little heart’s short fever fit”.
When we examine “Ode to Nightingale” we see that he now embraces art and poetry, however, he is still very much concentrating something which is very abstract.
In “Ode on Melancholy” he is still aware of the tragic morality of life, but is now more connected with his own experiences. He seems to conclude that the knowledge that good things will come to an end makes you enjoy and appreciate them more.
Finally, in To Autumn Keats seems to be able to take a more balanced view of life; he is able to experience beauty and appreciate this and concentrates on the positives, forgetting about the forthcoming the chill of winter.
In conclusion, I believe that Keats motivation to write To Autumn was to use an understanding of autumn, representing the end of life, is just as important as the spring, which represents new life. The personification may not just be to give the reader an alternative view of the seasons; it could be to give the reader an alternative view of life. I believe that what Keats is telling us is that to appreciate the simple things in life, such as the warmth of summer or the new life of Spring- the decay of life, and the monotony of autumn, is essential to existence.