To Autumn

【Abstract】： Autumn always causes one to be trapped in sentimentality. Among the literary works concerning about autumn， To Autumn by the outstanding English romantic poet John Keats in the 19th century， can be called the exotic flower that never withers. Compared to the other works about autumn， there seems to be something new in To Autumn. Besides the sorrow of the transience of the beauty， but the most important thing we should be aware of， according to To Autumn， is the epiphany of Keats， which is the beauty and sorrow coexist， and the true essence of life is to enjoy and appreciate the temporary beauty in life.

【Key words】： To Autumn； Epiphany； John Keats.

Introduction

John Keats is a key character that connects past and present in English poem and keeps prominent in world literature. Unlike most of the poems concerning autumn in and out of England in history， To Autumn passionately praises the beauty， warmth and abundance of autumn. The Andersenian fairy tale tells people that sorrow always coexists with happiness， and this poem is also full of subtle hints that beauty does not last forever and everything ultimately ends in death. In this poem， we can clearly perceive that the poet gets a baptism for himself， and he accepts the truth that the acceptance of mortality is not destructive to and he has gleaned wisdom by accepting the passage of time. This paper will mainly focus on the creating background， the vivid hints in this poem， and a comparison with other poems concerning on the same subject to illustrate how and why Keats gets his epiphany.

Ⅰ Creating Background

Keats is one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic Movement， the Active Romanticism. His short life was beset with tragedies， the oldest one in four children； he lost both his parents at a young age. His father， a livery-stable keeper， died when he was eight， his mother died of tuberculosis six years later and after his mother’s death， Keats’ maternal grandmother appointed two London merchants， Richard Abbey and John Rowland Sandell as his guardians （Luo Jinguo）. Life was quite miserable in all his life， his work had been in publication for only four years before his death and he was quite poor when he was alive. The miserable life experiences are always reflected in his works. The most important theme in Keats’ poems is the nature is beautiful， the realm of art and poetry is wonderful， but the human society is full of miseries. However， as Keats’ last poem， the theme of To Autumn is no longer the same as those of Keats’ previous poems. Keats spent the summer of 1818 walking along Northern England and Scotland， and returned home to care for his brother， Tom， who suffered from tuberculosis too. In that summer， he wrote to his would-be lover， Fanny Brawre that I had two luxuries to brood over in my walks， you loveliness and the hour of my death （Kyla Raetz）. As he roamed on the stubble-plains of Winchester in September， tubercular bacteria have already colonized his lungs. The autumn of 1819， the season of flourishing described in To Autumn would be the poet’s own autumn （Kelly）. In the last time of his life， moved by the beauty of this season， Keats sighed for the shortness of the beauty， and also his life. He decided no longer to ask “where are the songs of spring”， but to sing for autumn， itself， because “thou hast thy music too”.

Ⅱ No Beauty Would Last forever---Appreciation of To Autumn

Allen Tate reviewed To Autumn that “it is a very nearly perfect piece of style”， however， he goes on， “it has little to say that this ode deals with this some of the concerns presented in Keats’ other odes， but there are also significant differences” （Kyla Raetz）. Truly， in To Autumn， his last poem. There is even no visionary dreamer or attempt to fight from reality in this poem. In fact， there is no narrative voice or persona at all. The poem depicted the real world， and the vivid， concrete imagery immerses the reader in the sights， feel， and sounds of autumn and its progression. With its depiction of the progression of autumn， the poem is an unqualified Celebration of Process. Keats totally accepts the natural world， and also its mixture of ripening， fulfillment， dying and death.

To Autumn（Omit the original version）

Keats opens his 1st stanza by addressing autumn， describing its abundance and its intimacy with the sun， with which autumn ripens fruits and causes the late flowers to bloom. This stanza describes a view of initial autumn， and the mist’s forms in the early morning. Mist， cloud， frost and dew are always representing a season and also simply sad mood. Mist stands for being hard to grasp. Keats use mist to dress a fashionable dress autumn or cover it with a myth so that it can carry out its plan secretly without startling anyone. Autumn conspires with the sun together to load the vines， to “bend” the apple-trees， “to swell the ground”， and to “plump the hazel shells”. It seems that the poet is praising the high merit and achievement of Autumn， but actually he is alluding the fact that the aim of Autumn and the sun is to” load”， to “bend”， to “swell” and to “plump” all the fine things. We can clearly feel a sense of crisis. The danger of being overwhelmed by the not ending fertility is suggested in the flower and bee images in the last four lines of stanza 1. The bees can’t handle the “more” and “still more” flowers， for their cells are “O’er-brimm’d”.

In stanza 2， autumn is personified as a harvester， crosses a brook and is watching a cider press. The autumn slows down its footsteps and it is listless and even falls asleep， but its work remains. The furrow “half-reap’d” the winnowed hair refers to rip grain still standing， and the apple cider is still being pressed. However， the end of the cycle is near. The press is squeezing out “the last oozings”. In this stanza， Keats transitions smoothly to mid-Autumn， as if things have slowed down a little bit. This stanza forecasts the impending of the winter and the dying of the things in the previous stanza.

The most striking departure occurs in the third stanza. In the line “While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day”. “Bared cloud bloom” the rhythm of these three emphatic words together almost suggest the big， lumpy clouds blooming in the sky. Spring is a time of rebirth of life， an association which sets a contrast with the dying autumn in this stanza. Autumn speeds up the death of the now “full-grown” lambs which were born in spring. The lambs are slaughtered in autumn， and the answer to the question in line 1， “Where are spring’s song” is that they are past and dead things. The day， like the season， is dying. The dying of the day is presented favorably， namely “soft-dying”. Its dying creates beauty. The setting sun casts “a bloom of rosy hue” over the dried stubbles and stalks left after the harvest. Keats accepts all aspects of autumn， and also presents the sadness of dying in this stanza. The gnats “mourn” in a “wailful choir” and the doomed lambs bleat. It is a “light” or enjoyable wind that “lives or dies”， and the treble of robin is pleasantly “soft”. The swallows are gathering for their winter migration.

The Rhythm of this poem is ababcdecdde. Keats use rhythm and sound in this poem to contribute to its conational impact. Particularly in the first stanza， the use of” s”， “f” and “m” sounds gives the lines a rich， sensuous feel， helping readers experience the ripe fullness of the fruit. The poem is written in iambic pentameter， in other words， the basic rhythm is da-dum， da-dum-， da-dum-， da-dum-da-dum. In the last stanza， “soft-dying day” departs from what ought to be a da-dum-da-dum rhythm. This jarring effect results to reinforce the jarring sadness coming from the words’ suggestions that beauty passes by， and no beauty can last forever.

Despite of the coming chill of winter， the last warmth of autumn provides readers with ample beauties to celebrate. The readers have learned in Keats previous odes that they are no longer indolent， no longer committed to the isolated imagination （as in Psyche）， no longer attempting to escape the pain of the world through ecstatic rapture （as in Nightingale）， no longer frustrated by attempt to eternalize moral beauty of subject and eternal beauty of time （as in Urn）， and no longer able to frame the connection of pleasure and the sorrow of losses only， as an imaginary heroic quest （as in Melancholy） （Ractz）.

Ⅲ Compared with Other poems about Autumn

As all the leaves fall down to be buried into the dirty mud， flowers lose their beauty and wither， and everything with vigor steps into still， it’s easy for a man to be sentimental in Autumn. Numerous poets have sighed for the withering and falling in autumn， but the autumn under Keats’ pen has something new and different.

Song of the Autumn wind （秋風辭） by Liu Che， the seventh emperor of Han dynasty and the Autumn described by is quit different from that of Keats’：

秋風辭 劉徹（漢武帝）

秋風起兮白云飛，草木黃落兮雁南歸。

蘭有秀兮菊有芳，懷佳人兮不能忘。

泛樓船兮濟汾河，橫中流兮揚素波。

簫鼓鳴兮發棹歌，歡樂極兮哀情多。

少壯幾時兮奈老何！

English version： Song of the Autumn Wind （Omitted and readers can check in Xu Yuanchong 43）

As one of the greatest emperor in our Chinese history， Liu Che’s reign was an epoch-marking period in Chinese history. In this poem， Liu Che views the autumn wind as an observer and enjoyer and shows his deep fears for the transience of four seasons. Although “White clouds fly” to shows the prosperity in peaceful time， but “leaves turn yellow”， flowers “sweeten the air”， and “waves turn white”. The key verse is “But sorrows come when pleasure reaches its height”. What the autumn wind preserves for is the memory of “lady sweet and fair” i. In this poem， we seem to hear the poet sighing “If Autumn comes， can winter be far behind”. The tone of this poem is pessimistic and passive， but in To Autumn， we hear the calls on “Think not of them”（Songs of Spring）， “thou hast thy music too”. In Keats’； we sense more about his acceptance of the elapse of time and his cherishing and appreciating of the happiness of life

The same kind of difference is more obvious in Autumn by Thomas Ernest Hulme， another English poet：

Autumn （Omit the original version）

In this poem， the poet walked out in a “cold” autumn night. Although， he saw the “ruddy moon” is as beautiful as “a red-faced farmer”，he “didn’t stop to speak”， because his mood is as sad as the “wistful stars with white faces”. Here， the adjective words， “cold”， “wistful”， and “white” indicate the sorrows of the poet towards the elapse of time.

Conclusion

The miserable life experience gives Keats an sentimental mind in his creation， but he put something new in his To Autumn. Keats blends living and dying， the pleasure and the unpleasant， because they are inextricably one. He accepts the reality of the mixed nature of his world at last. This is an epiphany in his To Autumn， and also in his life.

Bibliograghy：

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