📘 Summary of the Poem: Ode to Autumn by John Keats
“Ode to Autumn” is a lyrical ode by John Keats, composed in 1819. The poem celebrates the season of autumn as a time of natural abundance, calm beauty, and quiet maturity. It consists of three stanzas, each depicting a different aspect of autumn—ripeness, labor, and decline—which also symbolically represent the cycle of life.

🟠 Stanza 1: The Season of Fulfilment
Autumn is described as a season of fruitfulness and a close companion of the sun.

Together, they ripen fruits, swell gourds, and fill nature with bounty.

Bees are misled into thinking summer never ends, as autumn continues to produce flowers.

This stanza focuses on growth, richness, and the peak of life.

🟡 Stanza 2: The Labor and Rest of Autumn
The poet personifies autumn as a woman engaged in harvest activities.

She is seen sitting by a granary, sleeping in the fields, or watching juice ooze from apples in a cider press.

This section reflects gentle labor, rest, and the slow winding down of the season.

There is a calm, almost dreamy atmosphere—not of exhaustion, but of peace.

🔴 Stanza 3: The Quiet Music of Decline
The poet asks, “Where are the songs of Spring?”—but answers that Autumn has its own music.

The sounds of nature—gnats humming, lambs bleating, crickets chirping, robins singing, swallows gathering—form a gentle, melancholic choir.

The sunset sky and soft winds give the stanza a sense of transience and beauty in decline.

This final stanza reflects acceptance of change, aging, and the passage of time.

🎯 Themes of the Poem
The beauty of nature’s cycle

Maturity and fulfillment

Transience of time

Death not as tragedy, but as a natural part of life

Harmony between man and nature

📌 Conclusion
“To Autumn” is a celebration of the natural world, filled with rich imagery and gentle music. Keats shows that even as the year wanes, there is beauty, peace, and meaning in its quiet end. The poem teaches us to accept change gracefully and to find joy in every stage of life.