To Autumn : Poem Anthology

“Seasons of mists..”

“And mellow fruitfulness.”

A change of season - the mist conceals the future

The arrival of Autumn is calm

It is not as disruptive as growing up is

The positive tone shows the reflection of the memories from summer

It reflects the feeling that your youth will never end and looking back on the youth with a sense of nostalgia

Calm and tranquil tones to show the acceptance that summer has faded away

“To bend with apples [..] and fill a..”

“Fruit with ripeness to the core.”

This represents how you are always changing

Autumn is still youthful and you are still ripe, able to enjoy your life

However, it also foreshadows the winter and decline to come

The fruits are at their peak ripeness and soon old age will take over

Enjambment shows how time is always passing, it flows as time does

The bending of apples represents the growing responsibilities and burdens as age increases

Ripeness to the core represents represents full maturity and the autumn being your life peak

“Drows’d with the fume of..”

“Poppies, while thy hook.”

Thy hook refers to the grim reaper and how the speaker is realising he is coming to the end of his life

He sees the death upon him and his youthfulness ending

Also represents the harvest and gathering rewards ; memories of a life well lived

Poppies and imagery of slowing down and sleep show the slowing down into stillness

The later stages of Autumn are represented marked by tiredness and stillness

The unfinished line represents the unknowing of whats to come in winter

“Thou watchest the..”

“Last oozings hours by hours”

Last oozings represents the last drops of the previous ripe fruits being squeezed out

It is a metaphor for the last bits of your youth being squeezed out snd the end of life nearing

There is no panic, the aging has been accepted

Repition of hours represents the slow passing of time

The word watchest shows how the passing of time is inevitable, you have to watch time pass as you age - it cannot be stopped

The poem has shifted in tone to a quieter and slowed down tone

“Where are the songs of..”

“Spring? Ay, where are they?”

The rheortical question mourns spring and youthfulness

Spring is now a distant memory as winter begins to draw in

The Repition enhances the sense of recognition that spring has gone until the cycle repeats

The speaker acknowledges that the youth cannot last forever

The questions mirror how humans reflect wistfully on their youth as they age

However, there is a tone of acceptance

“The red breast whistles [..] and..”

“Gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”

Red breast refers to the robin which is often linked to winter showing autumn is ending as well

Gathering swallows show the migration, highlighting the change and preparation for endings to come

This mirrors the old age moving into death, the cycle of life and the seasons are ending

The tone is calming, not mournful. Death is natural and not a tragedy

Final couplet of the poem showing the closing of life

The soft onimatepia is used in whistles and twitter which show a gentle and fading ending of life