“To Autumn” by Keats is an ode that deals more with the true nature of reality than many of his previous works. The spring odes - "Ode to Psych", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" - are all representative of a coherent quest. The speaker of these odes often desires an answer to several existential questions that humanity cannot easily resolve. These questions create overarching tensions throughout the odes and leave the reader in a state of unease. “To Autumn” is Keats's definitive solution to these earlier odes. As Keats's only poem to be fully grounded in reality, this ode establishes a kind of substantive finality to what he is expressing about the nature of life and death. By basing his ideas on what is intrinsically true, he can further demonstrate that his answer is as authentic as reality itself. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the most important features to note in this ode is Keats's departure from the common Romantic form. Poetry of this period followed a format that initially featured a narrator in an expressed setting who often drifts into visionary reverie. After being led through this imaginative dream, the reader again encounters the initial setting which is somehow altered or resolved. In Keats's early odes, the resolution is often anything but, and instead provides further tension to the conflicts expressed. "To Autumn" varies greatly from this romantic format. First of all, Keats does not provide a narrator for this poem. This is simply an observation of nature. By remaining simplistic and placing an emphasis on reality, the poem is given truth and accuracy which plays an important role in the moral Keats is attempting to express. The passage of time is a prevalent theme in “To Autumn.” Almost every sentence is filled with allusions to the passing of days or the changing of seasons. The references to a “ripening sun” (2) and the passing of “hour by hour” (22) obviously demonstrate how time is transitory. The first verse ends with a reference to summer and then spring is directly spoken of to reinforce this idea. By referring to the other seasons, Keats expresses his understanding of the passage of time. He's pointing out that what happens this season will end as the season passes and a new one will take its place. This time and everything we are experiencing are merely temporary. Keats's references to the other seasons play an important role in how he attempts to express the reality of nature. In reality, the seasons move from the vivid and abundant life of the summer, to the decay and slowing in the autumn, to the famine and ruin encountered in the winter, to finally return to rebirth and growth in the spring. Keats asks spring where its songs are, but consoles the reader by telling him that autumn also has its music, which is presented by crickets and redbreasts. It also parallels the fertility of the crop in the fall with the abundance of life seen in the summer (11). By referencing both spring and summer, Keats reminds the reader that the setting and actions of autumn are merely temporary and lie within this ultimate cycle of death and rebirth. Furthermore, many of the positive aspects of these seasons, such as abundance and flowering, are also present in autumn. Here, he tries to be optimistic as he presents the death and decay nature of autumn, reminding us that growth and life are also on the way. While the poem is structured through the passing of the autumn season,Keats observes the nature and actions of the world around him. The first stanza presents a scene of fulfillment and maturation. The Earth is almost unbearably developed to the point that the vines “bend with apples” (5) and the honeycombs are “overflowing” (11). The end of this stanza leaves the reader with an almost uncomfortable sense of intensity. Autumn has reached its maturity and is almost ready to burst forth in abundance. The second verse is where the season starts to slow down. Since Keats's observation of nature is rooted in the passage of time, the only logical progression from unsustainable fertility is a completion. Here Keats personifies autumn to demonstrate the stillness of this time. Autumn is seen as a reaper, or perhaps a reaper, who has retreated “sitting carelessly on the floor of a barn” (14). He sits patiently watching the cider being pressed and even falls asleep. The last line of this stanza "You watch the last exudations hour after hour" (22) also seems to lengthen in its enunciation, giving further suggestion to the idea that the season is coming to an end. Keats presents the imagery so stagnantly in an attempt to foreshadow the next phase of the season: the death phase. The third stanza presents the true intentions of the autumn season: the death and decay of the earth to make way for winter. By personifying Autumn as a reaper with her “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 final stanza even makes direct reference to death. The “day of sweet death” (25), the “plaintive chorus” of midges that “cry” (27), and the setting wind “lives or dies” (29) all demonstrate this idea. Keats also speaks of the sounds of “grown lambs” (30) bleating loudly from the hills. Here, he is subtly reinforcing an emblem of death as lambs are often taken to 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 pleasing way that it is shown that the reader understands that this is the true nature of the world. Keats attempts to demonstrate that life is essentially a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant. This poem is realistic in its discussion of death, but does so beautifully and quietly. His acceptance of mortality is not detrimental to his ability to appreciate beauty. The duality of nature - the mixture of death and life, of pleasant and unpleasant - is the only true reality that Keats has finally come to understand. Herein lies Keats's essential solution to the tensions of his earlier odes. He has gone beyond his commitment to an idealized imagination as in “Hymn to Psyche” and has decidedly placed his truth in what is real and natural. He doesn't try to frustrate himself by subjecting beauty to time as he does in "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Instead, he understands that time is transitory, as is the beauty that resides in that time. While eventually everything must enter a state of decay – as in the seasons of autumn and winter – eventually a type of rebirth and growth will return – the seasons of spring and summer – which will bring its own sense of beauty and wonder. Ultimately, Keats moved 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. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay “To Autumn” ” is a favorite of many poets and critics mainly because of its.