Understanding 'To Autumn'
I can explain how Keats presents the speaker's feelings towards autumn.
Understanding 'To Autumn'
I can explain how Keats presents the speaker's feelings towards autumn.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Keats’ poem is an ode ‘To Autumn’ - a celebration of the penultimate season of the year.
- The poem celebrates the bountiful and fruitful nature of the season of the harvest.
- Arguably, the poem is a metaphor for human mortality.
- In the poem, autumn could represent the later years of a person’s life - when their life begins to wane.
- Keats wrote this poem perhaps as a way of coming to terms with his imminent death.
Common misconception
Students may not recognise that this poem is a metaphor for human mortality and the approach of death.
Keats wrote this poem after he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Perhaps this poem was his way of accepting his own approaching death.
Keywords
Ode - a ceremonious and lyrical poem that celebrates a person, thing, place or idea
Wane - to weaken/ decrease in strength
Harvest - the collecting of crops for food
Acceptance - the general agreement that something is right, or the way it is supposed to be
Mortality - the state of being vulnerable to death
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).
Video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
Exit quiz
6 Questions
a lyrical poem that celebrates a person, thing or place
to weaken/ decrease in strength
the collecting of crops for food
the general agreement that something is right, or the way it should be
the state of being vulnerable to death