2024年2月26日发(作者：)

To Autumn 《秋颂》英文赏析(共3页)

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To Autumn

John Keats

To Autumn is an immortal poem. I will try to write some

of my feelings after reading

To Autumn and analyze it. I

believe this will not be an easy work.

To Autumn deals with the presence of nature and how

autumn itself is more significant than any of the other

seasons. What most called my attention was the infinite

number of images you can imagine by reading it. It seems

that john Keats describes what he imagine and while reading

it, I can create the picture in my mind, of what he is

seeing.

To Autumn has three stanzas. Each of three stanzas

shows us different time of a day and different time of

autumn. I thought this poem exhibited two kinds of

progression of time. First is the time of day. The first

stanza is the morning with the "mists". The second is late

afternoon, when the hot sun is beating down and makes

everyone drowsy. The third is at sunset with the "barred

clouds" piercing the sky with its "rosy hue".

This poem also shows a progression in the season of autumn

itself. The first stanza is early autumn because "summer

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has o'er brimmed. It shows the maturing of summer’s bounty.

The second is mid-autumn, because it's time for harvest.

The third is late autumn because the birds are headed south

for winter.

In stanza 1, Keats describes autumn with a series of

specific, concrete, and vivid images. The stanza begins

with autumn at the peak of fulfillment and continues with

an Initially autumn and the sun "load and bless" by

ripening the fruit. But the apples become so numerous that

their weight bends the trees; the gourds "swell," and the

hazel nuts "plump." Personification in this stanza is not

very clear.

In stanza 2, autumn personified as a harvester, crosses

a brook and watches a cider press. Otherwise autumn is

listless and even falls asleep. The furrow is "half-reap'd," the winnowed hair refers to ripe grain still

standing, and apple cider is still being pressed. However,

the end of the cycle is near. The press is squeezing out

"the last oozings." Find other words that indicate slowing

down. Notice that Keats describes a reaper who is not

harvesting and who is not turning the press.

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Personification here is very successful. It gives autumn a

personality and the autumn is no longer abstract.

In stanza 3, spring in line one has same function as

summer in stanza 1. They represent process, and the change

of time. Spring is a time of a rebirth of life. Autumn

means death for the now "full-grown" lambs which were born

in spring; they are ravaged in autumn. And the answer to

the question of line 1, where are Spring's songs, is that

they are past or dead. The auditory details that follow are

autumn's songs.

I know that Keats wrote ‘To Autumn’ shortly before his

death, but to me this poem is more about the approaching

death of Keats and the autumn prior to the ravages and

harshness of winter. It is a romantic poem, of

opportunities missed and pleasant gains. It contrasts with

the misery of day to day life, with a progressive illness

in the early 19th century, which only opium can offer some

respite. Keats was clearly in a bad way, although facing

his death, and the very intensity, passion and clarity of

the poem reflects this.

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