John Keats was one of the most well known poets of the Second generation Romantic Age. He was the first Romantic to die at a young age and the last Romantic to contribute to English Literature. He is widely famous for his six great Odes written in 1819 and wrote many other poems including “The Eve of St.Agnes” and the unfinished masterpiece “The fall of Hyperion”. He even wrote a tragedy “Otho ,the Great” in collaboration with Charles Brown.
“Ode to Autumn” is one of the beautiful odes written by Keats. The poem serves as a melodious tune for the old ages and paints a beautiful life of the autumn season. The autumn season is always a symbol of old age for the Romantics and hence the poem can be assumed to describe the poet’s own personal emotions and his impending death. Keats was diagnosed with Tuberculosis at an early age and this poem soothes the aching pain of old age as autumn has its own color to represent and enjoy.
Keats has used negative capability to ensure his subjective emotions in the poem. The images in the poem intrigues Keats own personal feelings who is waiting for his death yet enjoying the color of the season. The image of “maturing sun” indicates Keats own life as he has already reached the life of an old age due to his sickness. The image of fruits including “apples”,”gourd” , “hazel’ , “Kernel” shows its ripeness in the autumn season and it could indicate Keats career at its peak which is ripen when he got sick.
Keats describes the lifestyle of the autumn season implying that the autumn is the season for resting and less activity. He personifies “Autumn” to a human being and draws image of the “Autumn” himself “sitting careless on a granary floor” indicating rests and less activity in the season. He further adds the farmers who is ready to take rest and “Spares the next swath” around him and a “laden” who patiently look at the “cyder-press” extract from apples and the “Autumn” himself watches the “last oozings hours by hours”. These statement highlights the color and lifestyle of the season which shows a carefree life without bothering for the productivity.
Lastly, Keats was a sensuous poet and the sensual elements in the poem helps the poet to ease the pain within. The poem encapsulates the poet’s ability to sense the calmness in the nature and he states that season has the color to offer the “barred clouds” of the sunset while touching the “stubble-plains”. He goes on to suggest that one can hear the singing of “wailful choir ” of the “small gnats” and the bleating of the “full-grown lambs” from hilly areas as well the “crickets” singing and “swallows gathering ” while twittering signifying the process of making a funeral for old age.
Keats Ode on Indolence as a Romantic Poem–https://getsetnotes.com/keats-ode-on-indolence-as-a-romantic-poem/
Critical Note on Keats Negative Capability– https://getsetnotes.com/critical-note-on-negative-capability/
Click Here to Know about Ode on a Grecian Urn as a Romantic Poem– https://getsetnotes.com/ode-on-a-grecian-urn-as-a-romantic-poem/
