Beauty, Honesty and Acceptance.

“Ode to Autumn” is a great example of Keats’s genius. In this poem Keats is noted for his imagery, word choice, detail and articulation. Theodore Gaillard from The Explicator states that “Ode to Autumn” is “lush and intricate” and among the “best lyric poem[s]” in English. “Ode to Autumn” is an exposition of Keats’s true talents suggests Koos Daley, and “invokes” the senses in each stanza. In this poem Keats compares the changing seasons with the cycle of human life (Daley). Though Keats longs to “prolong” the sweet summer months, as Daley suggests, he realizes that autumn and winter are inevitable much like death. In “Ode to Autumn” Keats is accepting human mortality and looking forward to the future (Daley). Though human life lasts longer than Keats is suggesting, he calls readers to mature and recognize the reality of death (Daley). The passing seasons therefore act as instruments to encourage acceptance of reality. Though many of Keats poems are considered somber works of art, “Ode to Autumn” is different. It highlights beauty, points out mortality and ask readers to appreciate the now and accept the future.

Daley, Koos. “To Autumn.” Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition. (2002) Literary Reference Center Plus. EBSCO host. Tarrant County Coll. Lib. Databases. April 23, 2010 http://ezp.tccd.edu:2358/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=MOL9650000673&site=lrc-plus

Gaillard, Theodore. "To Autumn." The Poetical Works of John Keats. London: Oxford (1956). Literature Resource Center. Thomson Gale. Tarrant County Coll. Lib. Databases. April 23, 2010.