The Figure of Autumn
Odes often address an inanimate object or abstract idea directly, but they do not always portray that object/idea as a person, as Keats does. We think that autumn is a woman, because the seasons we...
Weight and Ripeness
Autumn is the season when things fatten up and come to fruition. It is a season of harvest and abundance, one with which we associate the overflowing cornucopia. Keats tries to illustrate the incre...
Pastoral
A "pastoral" poem is inspired by shepherds, shepherdesses, and other forms of simple life in rural settings. Pastorals commonly feature natural scenery so rich and vivid that you could drown in it....
Spring and Summer
The poem doesn't miss the opportunity to contrast autumn with its competitors, spring and summer. (Winter gets left out in the cold – thanks, folks, we'll be here all night). Summer is great,...