Keats's “To Autumn” is an ode that is more concerned with the true nature of reality than many of his earlier works. The spring odes – “Ode to the Psyche”, “Ode to the Nightingale” and “Ode to the Greek Urn” – are all representative of a coherent search. The speaker of these odes often yearns for an answer to several existential questions that humanity cannot easily resolve. These questions create overall tensions throughout the odes and leave the reader in a state of unease. “To Autumn” is Keats’s ultimate solution to these earlier odes. As Keats's only poem to be fully grounded in reality, this ode establishes a kind of substantial finality to what he expresses regarding the nature of life and death. By basing his ideas on what is intrinsically true, he can further prove that his answer is just as authentic as reality itself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayOne of the most important features to note about this ode is Keats's departure from the common Romantic form. Poetry of this period followed a format that initially presented a narrator in an expressed setting that often drifts into a visionary reverie. After being guided through this imaginative dream, the reader returns to the initial setting which is somehow altered or resolved. In Keats's earlier odes, the resolution is often quite the opposite and instead adds additional tension to the conflicts expressed. “To Autumn” differs significantly from this romantic format. First of all, Keats does not provide a narrator for this poem. It is simply an observation of nature. By remaining simplistic and emphasizing reality, the poem acquires a truth and precision that plays an important role in the moral Keats is trying to express. The passage of time is a dominant theme throughout “To Autumn.” Almost every sentence is full of allusions to the passing of days or the changing of the seasons. The references to a “ripening sun” (2) and the passage “from hour to hour” (22) obviously demonstrate how transitory time is. The first stanza ends with a mention of summer and later he speaks directly about spring to reinforce this idea. By referring to other seasons, Keats expresses his understanding of the passage of time. He points out that what happens during this season will end as the season passes and a new one takes its place. This time and everything we are experiencing is only temporary. Keats's references to other seasons play an important role in the way he attempts to express the reality of nature. In reality, the seasons move from the bustling life and abundance of summer, moving to the decadence and slowing down in autumn, to the scarcity and ruin encountered in winter, eventually reviving and growing in spring. Keats asks Spring where its songs are, but consoles the reader by telling him that Autumn also has its own music, presented by crickets and redbreasts. He also compares the fertility of autumn harvests with the abundance of life observed in summer (11). When Keats refers to spring and summer, he reminds the reader that the setting and actions of autumn are simply temporary and part of this ultimate cycle of death and rebirth. Additionally, many of the good aspects of these seasons, such as abundance and flowering, are also inherent in fall. Here he attempts to be optimistic by presenting the nature of death and decay of autumn by reminding us that growth and life are also tocome. As the poem structures itself through the season of autumn, Keats observes the nature and actions of the world around him. The first stanza presents a scene of growth and maturation. The Earth is almost unbearably developed, to the point where the vines are “bending with the apples” (5) and the honeycombs are “overwhelmed” (11). The end of this stanza leaves the reader with a feeling of almost uncomfortable intensity. Autumn has come of age and is almost ready to burst with abundance. The second stanza is where the season begins to slow down. As Keats's observation of nature relies on the passage of time, the only logical progression from unbearable fertility is completion. Here, Keats personifies autumn to demonstrate the calm of this period. Autumn is seen as a reaper, or perhaps a reaper, who has retired and “sat carefree on the floor of a granary” (14). He sits patiently watching the cider press and even falls asleep. Even the last line of this stanza “You watch the last seeps hour after hour” (22) seems to lengthen in its utterance, further suggesting the idea that the season is coming to an end. Keats presents the images in such a stagnant manner in an attempt to foreshadow the next phase of the season – the death phase. The third stanza presents the true intentions of the season of autumn – the death and decay of the earth to make way for autumn. for the winter. By personifying Autumn as a reaper with his "hook" (17) and slowing down the activity of the poem, Keats intentionally plants the idea of ​​death in the reader's mind. His diction throughout this last stanza even directly references death. The “dying day” (25), the “dismal chorus” of gnats that “cry” (27), and the descending wind that “lives or dies” (29) all demonstrate this idea. Keats also speaks of the sounds of “mature lambs” (30) bleating loudly from the hills. Here it subtly reinforces an emblem of death since lambs are often taken to the slaughter in late autumn. This is the final presentation of Keats's impression of reality: the idea that death is intrinsic and inevitable. This is presented in such a pleasant way that the reader understands that this is the true nature of the world. Keats attempts to show that life is essentially a mixture of the pleasant and the unpleasant. This poem is realistic in its discussion of death, but it does so in a beautiful and quiet way. His acceptance of mortality does not harm his ability to appreciate beauty. The duality of nature – the mixture of death and life, the pleasant and the unpleasant – is the only true reality that Keats ultimately came to understand. Herein lies Keats's essential solution to the tensions of his earlier odes. He has moved beyond his commitment to an idealized imagination as in “Ode to Psyche” and has decidedly placed his truth in what is real and natural. He does not seek to frustrate himself by subjecting beauty to time as he does in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. Instead, he understands that time is fleeting, and so is the beauty that resides in that time. While everything must eventually enter a state of decay – as in the seasons of fall and winter – a type of rebirth and growth will eventually return – the seasons of spring and summer – which will bring their own feeling of beauty and wonder. Finally, Keats went beyond his attempts in “Ode to a Nightingale” to escape the pain of the world. “To Autumn” is his embrace of death. He is finally at peace and can understand the cycle of decay and rebirth as not only inevitable, but also beautiful. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get now.