There are many poems which capture the atmosphere of this time of year but none better, in my opinion, than Ode to Autumn by John Keats. A lot of the poetry about this season is filled with laments, sadness and descriptions of harsh October winds but Keats’s poem is rich with the comforting imagery of a bountiful autumn, ripening the fruits and filling the air with the lingering fragrance of summer.
Autumn, season of mists…
…and mellow fruitfulness
ODE TO AUTUMN
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-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed 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-brimmed their clammy cell.
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-reaped 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.
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 redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
love the poem and the photos that are in this beautiful post. definitley getting me in the mood for autumn. my favorite season actually…
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Thank you for your comment. 🙂 Autumn is my favorite season too, I think, but it is unfortunately marred by the looming threat of the season that follows it!
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Reblogged this on ft. // la vie éclectique and commented:
Wonderful poem and right on time to celebrate the Autumn season… This is the 22nd of a 51 series of posts on my reblog or link project. Cultural Life’s blog is a beautiful read. Enjoy~
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Thanks for reblogging! I’m glad you enjoyed the poem. 🙂
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Beautiful post!
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Thank you! 🙂
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beautiful poems with lovely apt pictures to it….enjoyed goin through them…
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Thank you. 🙂 I love the poetry of Keats. It’s so melodious and beautiful.
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