🍂 To Autumn – John Keats ( Text )
Stanza 1
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Stanza 2
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Stanza 3
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
📌 About the Poem
Poet: John Keats (1795–1821), one of the leading figures of the Romantic Movement.
Written: September 1819, after a walk near Winchester, England.
Published: 1820 in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems.
Form: Ode (3 stanzas of 11 lines each).
Rhyme scheme: Each stanza has its own pattern (Stanza 1: ABAB CDE DCE, others vary).
Theme: The poem celebrates Autumn as a season of abundance, ripeness, beauty, and gradual decline. Unlike other Romantics who idealized Spring, Keats found Autumn equally rich and symbolic of the natural cycle of life and death.
Keats personifies Autumn as a goddess-like figure, involved in different activities of harvest, labor, and quiet reflection.
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📖 Detailed Summary (Stanza-wise)
Stanza 1 (Lines 1–11)
Keats describes the abundance of autumn. The season fills the vines with grapes, bends apple trees with fruit, swells gourds, ripens hazelnuts, and sets flowers to bloom for bees. Autumn seems like a generous force working closely with the sun to load everything with ripeness. Bees think summer will never end, for autumn provides them endless flowers.
👉 Theme here: fruitfulness, growth, abundance, and fulfillment.
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Stanza 2 (Lines 12–22)
Here Autumn is personified as a woman engaged in harvest work. She is seen sitting careless on a granary floor, sleeping among the harvested crops, bending over half-reaped furrows with a hook, or patiently watching cider pressing.
👉 Theme here: labor, rest, fulfillment of tasks. Autumn is no longer only about abundance but also about human-like presence and involvement in nature’s work.
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Stanza 3 (Lines 23–33)
Keats moves from visual images to auditory images. He asks Autumn not to think it has no music; it has its own sounds. The “music” of autumn includes the soft songs of gnats, bleating lambs, singing crickets, whistling red-breast (robin), and twittering swallows. These sounds mark the approach of winter but also the quiet beauty of an ending season.
👉 Theme here: transience, acceptance, the beauty of decline. Autumn symbolizes the later stage of life before winter (death).
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🌿 Line-by-Line Explanation with Hard Words
Stanza 1
1. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
→ Autumn is foggy and full of ripe fruits. (“mellow” = soft, ripe, gentle)
2. Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
→ Autumn works closely with the sun, helping fruits to ripen.
3. Conspiring with him how to load and bless
→ They “conspire” (plan together) to fill the earth with blessings of ripeness.
4. With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
→ Grapevines creep around cottage roofs and are filled with fruit.
5. To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
→ Apple trees, covered with moss, bend under the weight of apples.
6. And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
→ Fruits are completely ripened.
7. To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
→ Pumpkins/gourds grow bigger; hazelnuts fill out.
8. With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
→ Hazelnuts get kernels; flowers keep budding.
9. And still more, later flowers for the bees,
→ More flowers grow so bees can keep collecting nectar.
10. Until they think warm days will never cease,
→ Bees feel endless summer warmth.
11. For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
→ Their honeycombs overflow with honey. (“clammy” = sticky)
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Stanza 2
12. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
→ Who hasn’t seen Autumn among its abundance?
13. Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
→ One can see Autumn outdoors in different forms.
14. Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
→ Autumn personified as a woman, sitting relaxed on the grain store floor.
15. Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
→ Her hair is gently lifted by the breeze. (“winnowing wind” = wind separating grain from chaff)
16. Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
→ She sleeps in the half-harvested fields.
17. Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
→ Sleepy from the scent of poppies, her sickle (harvest tool) lies idle.
18. Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
→ The uncut row of crops with flowers remains untouched.
19. And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
→ Autumn looks like a gleaner (one who collects leftover crops).
20. Steady thy laden head across a brook;
→ She balances her heavy load while crossing a brook.
21. Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
→ Autumn is also present near cider-making.
22. Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
→ She waits for the final drops of juice to flow.
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Stanza 3
23. Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
→ The poet asks: where are Spring’s songs now?
24. Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
→ Autumn should not envy Spring; it has its own music.
25. While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
→ Clouds glow at sunset (soft-dying day = evening).
26. And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
→ Harvested fields shine with pink sunset light.
27. Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
→ Gnats hum like a sad choir at dusk.
28. Among the river sallows, borne aloft
→ They fly around willow trees near the river.
29. Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
→ They rise and fall with the wind.
30. And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
→ Lambs bleat loudly in the hills. (“bourn” = small stream or boundary)
31. Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
→ Crickets sing with a high-pitched voice.
32. The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
→ A robin sings from the garden.
33. And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
→ Swallows gather and chirp, preparing to migrate.
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✅ In short:
Stanza 1 → Autumn as a season of abundance.
Stanza 2 → Autumn as a personified figure of labor and rest.
Stanza 3 → Autumn as a season of music and gentle decline.
📝 100 One-Liner Q&A (with short explanations)
About the Poet & Poem
1. Who wrote To Autumn? – John Keats. (Romantic poet, 1795–1821).
2. When was To Autumn written? – 1819. (Keats’s most creative year).
3. Where was the poem composed? – Near Winchester, England.
4. In which year was it published? – 1820.
5. In which collection did it appear? – Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems.
6. What is the form of the poem? – Ode.
7. How many stanzas does the poem have? – Three.
8. How many lines in each stanza? – Eleven.
9. What is the rhyme scheme of stanza 1? – ABAB CDE DCE.
10. Is the rhyme scheme fixed in all stanzas? – No, each stanza varies slightly.
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Themes
11. What is the central theme of the poem? – Celebration of autumn’s abundance and beauty.
12. What does autumn symbolize? – Maturity, fulfillment, decline.
13. Which season is contrasted with autumn in the poem? – Spring (in stanza 3).
14. What cycle of life does autumn represent? – Old age or later life.
15. What is the tone of stanza 1? – Joyful and abundant.
16. Tone of stanza 2? – Calm, reflective, personified labor.
17. Tone of stanza 3? – Melancholic but harmonious.
18. What is the overall tone? – Acceptance and celebration of change.
19. What Romantic idea is reflected in the poem? – Nature’s beauty and transience.
20. Does the poem mourn death? – No, it accepts decline peacefully.
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Stanza 1 (Abundance)
21. How is autumn described in the opening line? – “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.”
22. What does “mellow” mean? – Ripe, soft, gentle.
23. Who is autumn’s “bosom-friend”? – The maturing sun.
24. What do autumn and the sun “conspire” to do? – To load earth with fruits.
25. Which fruit is seen around thatch-eves? – Grapes/vines.
26. What bends the moss’d cottage trees? – Apples.
27. What happens to all fruits? – They are ripened to the core.
28. What is meant by “to swell the gourd”? – Pumpkins grow large.
29. What happens to hazelnuts? – They are filled with sweet kernels.
30. Why are late flowers important? – They provide nectar for bees.
31. Why do bees think summer will never cease? – Because flowers still bloom.
32. What over-brims the bees’ “clammy cells”? – Honey.
33. What does “clammy” mean? – Sticky.
34. What is the main imagery of stanza 1? – Ripeness and abundance.
35. Which sense dominates stanza 1? – Visual (sight of fruits, flowers).
36. What figure of speech is “bosom-friend”? – Personification.
37. What poetic device is used in “load and bless”? – Alliteration.
38. What imagery connects bees to endless summer? – Overfilled honeycombs.
39. Which Romantic quality is strongest in stanza 1? – Celebration of nature’s abundance.
40. What does the stanza suggest about time? – The peak of life and richness.
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Stanza 2 (Personification of Autumn)
41. How is autumn personified in stanza 2? – As a woman working and resting.
42. Where is autumn sometimes seen? – Sitting on a granary floor.
43. What lifts autumn’s hair? – The winnowing wind.
44. Where else does autumn sleep? – On half-reaped furrows.
45. What makes autumn drowsy? – The fume of poppies.
46. What lies idle when autumn sleeps? – The hook (sickle).
47. What is spared when autumn sleeps? – The next swath of crops.
48. What is a “swath”? – A row of cut crops.
49. What flowers twine in the swath? – Wildflowers left uncut.
50. How is autumn compared to a gleaner? – Balancing a laden head.
51. What is a gleaner? – A person collecting leftover crops.
52. Where is autumn seen with a patient look? – Beside a cider-press.
53. What does autumn watch by hours? – The last oozings of cider.
54. What sense dominates stanza 2? – Touch and action.
55. What mood is reflected in stanza 2? – Calm labor and rest.
56. What poetic device is “drowsed with the fume of poppies”? – Personification.
57. What literary quality is shown by cider “oozings”? – Sensory imagery.
58. How many forms of autumn are described in stanza 2? – Four (granary, reaper, gleaner, cider-press watcher).
59. Which human qualities are given to autumn? – Rest, sleep, patience.
60. What Romantic idea is strong here? – Personification of nature.
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Stanza 3 (Music of Autumn)
61. What question opens stanza 3? – “Where are the songs of Spring?”
62. What is Keats’s reply? – “Thou hast thy music too.”
63. What time of day is described? – Sunset (soft-dying day).
64. What colors the stubble-plains? – Rosy hue of sunset.
65. What insects form a “wailful choir”? – Gnats.
66. Where do gnats hum? – Among river sallows (willows).
67. How do gnats move? – Rising and falling with the wind.
68. What animals bleat from hilly bourns? – Lambs.
69. Which insect sings in hedges? – Hedge-crickets.
70. Which bird whistles from the garden? – Red-breast (robin).
71. Which bird twitters in the sky? – Swallows.
72. What do swallows prepare for? – Migration.
73. What does “soft-dying day” symbolize? – Evening / decline of life.
74. What sense dominates stanza 3? – Hearing (sound/music).
75. What poetic device is “wailful choir”? – Metaphor for gnats’ sound.
76. What emotion is linked with gnats’ song? – Mourning.
77. What does lambs’ bleating suggest? – Vitality and continuity of life.
78. What mood does robin’s whistle add? – Calm and homely.
79. What does the swallow’s twitter symbolize? – Passage of time, departure.
80. What Romantic idea dominates stanza 3? – Nature’s music and transience.
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General / Literary Devices
81. Which literary form is To Autumn? – Ode.
82. Which season does Keats glorify? – Autumn.
83. What is the main figure of speech in the poem? – Personification.
84. What does the sun symbolize? – Creative force and ripening.
85. What does the cider-press symbolize? – The slow completion of life’s cycle.
86. What is the overall imagery of stanza 1? – Fertility.
87. Imagery of stanza 2? – Humanized labor.
88. Imagery of stanza 3? – Music of decline.
89. What does the poem avoid? – Direct mention of death.
90. What structure does the poem follow? – Progression from growth → labor → decline.
91. What sound device is used in “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”? – Alliteration.
92. What device in “maturing sun”? – Personification.
93. What device in “soft-dying day”? – Metaphor.
94. What device in “wailful choir of gnats”? – Metaphor + personification.
95. Which sense dominates stanza 1? – Sight.
96. Which sense dominates stanza 2? – Touch and rest.
97. Which sense dominates stanza 3? – Hearing.
98. Which Romantic principle is most visible? – Union of man and nature.
99. How does the poem end? – With birds and swallows in the sky.
100. What is Keats’s final message? – Accept life’s cycle; every stage has its beauty.
📖 50 Extra One-Liner Questions from Lines
Stanza 1 (Lines 1–11)
1. “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” – what two qualities of autumn are highlighted? – Fog and ripeness.
2. “Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun” – what device is used? – Personification (autumn and sun are friends).
3. What does “maturing sun” imply? – Sun in later part of year (autumn).
4. “Conspiring with him” – why is the word ‘conspiring’ used? – Suggests secret cooperation between sun and autumn.
5. What is “thatch-eves”? – The edges of thatched roofs.
6. What grows around thatch-eves? – Vines with grapes.
7. Why are cottage trees “moss’d”? – Covered with moss due to damp season.
8. What does “ripeness to the core” emphasize? – Complete maturity of fruits.
9. “Swell the gourd” – which vegetable is meant? – Pumpkin/squash.
10. What does “plump the hazel shells with a sweet kernel” describe? – Hazelnuts filling out.
11. Why does Keats repeat “and still more, later flowers”? – To stress abundance and continuity.
12. Why do bees think “warm days will never cease”? – Because autumn flowers keep blooming.
13. What does “clammy cells” refer to? – Sticky honeycombs of bees.
14. What is meant by “o’er-brimm’d”? – Overflowing.
15. What sense (sight, sound, smell) dominates this stanza? – Sight and taste (visual imagery of fruits).
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Stanza 2 (Lines 12–22)
16. “Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?” – Who is addressed here? – Autumn personified.
17. What is “thy store”? – The abundance of harvest.
18. Why is autumn described as “sitting careless on a granary floor”? – Symbolizes abundance already stored.
19. What is meant by “winnowing wind”? – Wind that separates grain from chaff.
20. “Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind” – which image is used? – Gentle personification of autumn as a woman.
21. Why does autumn sleep “on a half-reap’d furrow”? – Symbol of unfinished harvest and rest.
22. What does “drowsed with the fume of poppies” mean? – Sleepy with opium-scent of poppies.
23. Why does the hook “spare the next swath”? – Because autumn is asleep.
24. What is “twined flowers” in the swath? – Wildflowers intertwined with crops.
25. What does “like a gleaner thou dost keep” suggest? – Autumn as a poor woman collecting leftover crops.
26. Why is the gleaner’s head “laden”? – She carries heavy bundles.
27. What does “across a brook” symbolize? – Transition, passage of time.
28. Where does autumn appear as most patient? – At a cider-press.
29. What does “last oozings” refer to? – Final drops of apple juice.
30. Why “hours by hours”? – Suggests slow passage of time, patience.
31. What sense dominates stanza 2? – Touch/smell (fume of poppies, cider press).
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Stanza 3 (Lines 23–33)
32. “Where are the songs of Spring?” – what is implied? – Spring is gone, but autumn has its own beauty.
33. Why does Keats say “Think not of them”? – Autumn should not envy Spring.
34. What does “thou hast thy music too” signify? – Autumn has its own sounds.
35. What is meant by “soft-dying day”? – Sunset/evening, symbol of decline.
36. What colors the stubble-plains? – Rosy hue of sunset.
37. Why does Keats use “stubble-plains”? – Fields after harvest, bare yet glowing.
38. What forms a “wailful choir”? – Gnats humming.
39. Why are gnats said to “mourn”? – Their sound resembles lament.
40. Where are the gnats found? – Among river sallows (willows).
41. What causes the gnats to rise and sink? – The wind.
42. What animal is heard from the hilly bourn? – Lambs.
43. What is the sound of hedge-crickets described as? – A song.
44. What bird whistles from the garden-croft? – Red-breast (robin).
45. What is the “treble soft”? – High-pitched cricket sound.
46. Which birds gather and twitter in the skies? – Swallows.
47. Why are swallows gathering? – Preparing to migrate for winter.
48. How does stanza 3 shift from stanza 1? – From abundance to decline/music.
49. What mood is created by robin’s whistle? – Calm, homely, tender.
50. What idea does the final line “twitter in the skies” symbolize? – Passage of time, end of season, continuity of life.
🍁 Hard Word Meanings in To Autumn
Stanza 1
Mists → light fog.
Mellow → ripe, soft, gentle.
Fruitfulness → abundance of fruit, fertility.
Bosom-friend → very close companion.
Maturing sun → late-year sun that ripens fruits.
Conspiring → working together secretly.
Thatch-eves → edges of thatched cottage roofs.
Moss’d cottage-trees → trees covered with moss.
Ripeness to the core → fully mature, completely ripe.
Swell → enlarge, grow bigger.
Gourd → pumpkin or squash.
Plump → make round and full.
Hazel shells → outer shell of hazelnuts.
Kernel → inner seed/nut.
Clammy → sticky, damp.
O’er-brimm’d → overflowed, filled to the top.
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Stanza 2
Store → gathered harvest, stock.
Granary → place for storing grain.
Winnowing wind → breeze used to separate grain from chaff.
Furrow → long narrow trench in a ploughed field.
Reap’d → harvested, cut down.
Drowsed → sleepy.
Fume of poppies → strong scent of poppy flowers (sleep-inducing).
Hook → sickle, curved blade for cutting crops.
Swath → row or strip of cut crops.
Twined flowers → flowers twisted and growing together.
Gleaner → poor person who collects leftover crops from fields.
Laden → heavily loaded.
Brook → small stream.
Cider-press → machine that squeezes juice from apples.
Oozings → slow dripping or flow of liquid.
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Stanza 3
Songs of Spring → joyful natural sounds of springtime.
Soft-dying day → sunset, end of the day.
Stubble-plains → fields after harvest (with stubble left).
Hue → color, shade.
Wailful choir → mournful group sound (here, of gnats).
Gnats → small flying insects.
Mourn → to grieve, lament.
River sallows → willow trees near a river.
Borne aloft → carried upward.
Bourn → small stream / boundary.
Hedge-crickets → crickets living in hedges (bushes).
Treble soft → high-pitched sound.
Red-breast → robin bird.
Garden-croft → small enclosed piece of land near a garden.
Swallows → birds that migrate before winter.
Twitter → chirping sound of birds.
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