To Autumn

To Autumn

Task One:

Autumn leaves are like powerful yellow flames

Which can melt down the greatest glacier on earth

Autumn leaves are dancing to the wind

Though they are not ready to leave

Autumn leaves that fall to the ground peacefully

Are now crisp and crunchy

Where little animals scramble laughingly 

 "To Autumn"

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,	5
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,	10
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
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;	15
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d 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;	20
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
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,	25
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;	30
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Task Two: Similarities between our poems an "To Autumn"

• In the poem "To Autumn" there is an anthitesis in the words "lives" and "dies" and an oxymoron in the words "clouds bloom". In our first poem the words "flames" and "glacier" also have an antithetical meaning as when "flames" represents heat, "flames" represents coldness. 

• In the poem "To Autumn" there is a reference to animals in "full-grown lamps" and we can relate it to the "little animals" we incorporated in our last poem.

• The phrase "Though they are not ready to leave" in our second poem, reflects the idea that leaves are going to fall to the ground someday when winter is going to come, but not yet. This concept is also portrayed in Keats' poem in the words "soft-dying day" and "last oozings hours", reflecting the idea of something that will end soon. This can be thought both of the autumn that will end, or the idea of death, that somehow or other it will come as it's inevitable. 

• The idea of movement portrayed in our second poem in the word "dancing" is also present in the poem "To Autumn" in the "winnowing wind". In both poems the movement is presented through a kinesthetic image. 

• In our poems nature was used frequently as it's one of the main chareacteristics of romanticism, words as: "leaves", "glacier", "earth" and "wind". There are also many images in Keats' poetry related to nature as "maturing sun", "fruit", "apples", "granary floor" and "river".

• Auditory images are also present in our third poem in the words "crisp" and "crunchy" as in the phrase "Hedge-crickets sing" of Keats' poem.

End Task:

1) How does To Autumn differ from the other poems you have studied? 

In this poem Keats is not describing something from his imagination as he usually does in all of his poems, but describing a day of autumn. It's a simpler poem if we analyze it in that way as he’s simply describing the real world, instead of expressing his imagination or his dreams. There are several visual images of nature, which depict growth and vitality as "apple", "fruitfulness" and "trees", but he doesn't go beyond that. There are also concrete auditory images illustrating the vividness of autumn. Keats always keeps in mind the passage of time. He accepts how nature evolves following a cycle, the fact that autumn will come to an end somehow or other as well as death will soon arrive. Also, there’s no narrative voice in the poem.

2) I mentioned in a letter to my old pal Reynolds that the stubble fields in autumn looked "warm" to me. How do I communicate a sense of warmth in my poem? 

The fact that the word warm itself appears in the poem in "Warm days will never cease", suggests the idea of warmth. Although autumn is part of a cycle and will end soon, the reader knows it will come again the following year, therefore its end is not tragic but hopeful. Keats creates the warmness of the poem by using several visual images, most of them joyful. Words as "rosy hue", suggesting something pink, and "bloom", portray how beautiful autumn is. In the poem, winter is never mentioned directly, although the reader knows that’s going to come soon. Instead, spring is mentioned in “Where are the songs of Spring?” creating a cozier environment, against the coldness that winter brings in its meaning.

3) How do I use language to reflect the passage of time and a sense of an ever-changing world in this poem? 

The structure of the poem suggests the cycle of the day, illustrating the passing of time. The first stanza takes place during morning time, the second stanza during the afternoon, when the working day is drawing to an end and the last stanza is the end of the day.

There are many words through out the poem, which suggest that both the day and autumn are coming to an end, portraying the possibility of death. It suggests that as the end of a day will come somehow or other, death as well is inevitable. The word "maturing" refers to something old, which can end at any moment. The word "asleep" and the phrase "last oozings hours" support the idea of autumn ending, and that winter is approaching. There is a constant reminder of death, but not in a tragic way, if not of enjoyment of those last moments of life, as of autumn. Keats shows this clearly in "soft-dying day", a day that is coming to an end, autumn that is ending, and the fact that he's dying, but still, it doesn't affect the softness of it. The antithesis "lives or dies" suggests in a more literal way the idea of the passing of time. The fact that all the animals are singing, shown in "hedge-crickets sing" or "red-breast whistles", depicts that the day is coming to an end, as it's normal that animals sing at late afternoon, when night is approaching. 

4) Can you identify the "default" rhythm I create in To Autumn? Can you then find one instance where I change the rhythm to support or extend the meaning of the line(s)? 

The rhythm created in this poem is an iambic pentameter (lines consisting of 5 feet) as "SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness". However, as most of Keats' poetry there is a variation in the rhythm, so as, for instance, change its pace. The third line of the first stanza: "Conspiring with him how to load and bless" there is a variation to a tetrameter (lines consisting of 4 feet). We can also get to notice that most of the lines start with a stressed syllable as "Season" so as to emphasize the first word we read, to highlight it and give it importance. 

Imagery on Ode on Melancholy

Imagery on Ode on Melancholy

Task One - THE LYRIC POEM

What's lyric poetry:

• a brief poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) 
• expresses thoughts and feelings
• it can be an elegy, a dramatic monologue or an ode
• often used in short songs or in brief TV commercials
• they're repetitive and several images are used, so that they stay in our memory 

Task Two - MELANCHOLY

How melancholic differs from sadness: Melancholy is beyond sad: as a noun or an adjective, it's a word for the gloomiest of spirits.

Task Three - READING THE POEM

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

       Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd

       By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

               Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

       Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

               Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;

       For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

               And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

But when the melancholy fit shall fall

       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;

       And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

       Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

Ay, in the very temple of Delight

       Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

               Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

       Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;

His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

               And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

Notes on "Ode on Melancholy":

Stanza 1:

•  The first stanza is telling the reader what they shouldn't do when they feel melancholic.
•  Prosperine: Authors from the Romantic period are obsessed with myths from Ancient Greece.

Stanza 2:

•  Nature is constantly used to express feelings, as it's one of the main characteristic of Romanticism. Words as "cloud", "flowers", "green hill", "rose", "salt sand-wave", "peonies" are used which are clear images of nature.
•  "Weeping cloud": metaphor for rain.
•  "And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes": it's an assonance, which is the repetiton of vocal sounds in the words "feed", "deep" and "peerless". There is also a sibilance in "peerless eyes", as it's the repetition of "s" sounds. 

Stanza 3:

•  "aching Pleasure" is an oxymoron. 

Task Four - EXPLORING IMAGES

Stanza 1:

“By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine”

It's an allusion to Greek Mythology. Romantic poets were obsessed with Greek Mythology because of its mystery and constant relation to nature. In “Ode on a Grecian Urn” there is also a reference to Greek Mythology.

“And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul”

There is an oxymoron in the words “wakeful anguish” because of the clear opposition between the meanings of these two words. “Wakeful” represents something new, something pure and refreshing. On the other hand, “anguish” represents a dark feeling of hatred and melancholy. These two words are combined, giving emphasis on the apparition of melancholy in a person’s life.

Stanza 2: 

“Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud”

Melancholy falls into our lives like rain from the sky, unexpectedly. Nature is once again used to express the poet’s feelings. This is one of the main characteristics of romanticism. 

“And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes”

It's a repetition of vocal sounds, called an assonance, which draws the reader’s attention to the poem and its significance. There is also a repetition of the “s” sound, which is called sibilance. This emphasis's on these certain sounds creates a hypnotic effect such as the one the “peerless eyes” has upon us. 

Stanza 3: 

“Whose hand is ever at his lips”

What the poet wants to express is that whenever we experience joy in life, we are conscious that it's not going to last, and it is going to leave soon. Joy will not last for a long time in our lives, melancholy is always going to appear. The fact that the woman’s hand is never at the man’s lips represents the impossibility of actually experiencing joy. 

“She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die”

There is a repetition of the word “beauty”, which emphasizes the meaning of this word, which can be related to the joy in our life. The fact that it states that “beauty must die” also represents that everything that is beautiful in life or that gives us a certain feeling of happiness will eventually die or fade from our lives, being replaced by melancholy. 

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Thou still unravished bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? 

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? 

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; 

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal — yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed 

Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearied,

Forever piping songs forever new; 

More happy love! more happy, happy love! 

Forever warm and still to be enjoyed,

Forever panting, and forever young;

All breathing human passion far above,

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed,

A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

And all her silken flanks with garlands dressed? 

What little town by river or sea shore,

Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?

And, little town, thy streets for evermore

Will silent be; and not a soul to tell 

Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

Reminder: What is an ode?

• The ode has always been lengthy and talks about a subject in particular. 
• It's very elaborated in its diction and style, and it follows a stanzaic structure. 
• Two classical types of odes: Greek and Roman.
• Describes an outer natural scene.
• It may be focused on a private problem or a universal situation.
• It might be about a resolution or decision, which creates a new perspective by the intervening meditation.

Making of the urn: (Words highlighted in the poem are images which helped us design the urn)

Things to consider in the making of the urn (tensions and conflicts):

• Frozen images on the urn vs the dynamic life portrayed
• Human/changeable vs the immortal/permanent
• Participation vs observation
• Life vs art