Ans: “To Autumn” is one of the purest poem of Nature composed by John Milton. Its purity as an ode of Nature is refreshing forever. Keats’ sensuous love of Nature is manifested in his poem “Ode to Autumn” which is remarkable for its treatment of Nature. To keats’, Nature is a source of delightful sensation. This poem is a fine example of the stillness as well as the movement in Nature. The vividness of imagery in the description of Autumn shows Keats’ keen observation of Nature.

The different pictures of Autumn are complete in their resounded perfection and felicity of loveliness. Here, we have the sensuous touch, the reflective note, the painting of pictures, and most importantly the love of Nature. The scenic beauty with all its color and music has wonderfully shown the glory of Nature.

In “To Autumn” Keats uses word pictures that help the reader to understand the beauty of nature’s sights and sounds which appeal to the sense of taste, sight, and sound.

The first stanza of the poem presents nature’s bounty that mainly appeals to the sense of taste. The poem opens with a rich picture of Autumn in the mind —

” Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; “

Here autumn is a season of ‘mellow fruitfulness’. The vines are laden with clusters of thatch-roofed country houses. The juicy grapes appeal to the sense of taste of the readers. Similarly, the apples, the gourd, the hazelnuts, and honey bring water to the mouths of the readers. Though these images at first appeal to the sense of sight, they ultimately appeal to the sense of taste.

The second stanza presents nature’s sight. The personification of Autumn reaches its climax in this stanza. Autumn has been presented in its varied forms. It has been presented as a farmer, a reaper, and a gleaner. Autumn has several occupations that can be seen with our eyes. In other words, Autumn as a woman appeals to our sense of sight very vividly. Thus in this stanza, the poet has presented the fantastic beauty of Nature. It is alive and it has the capability of speaking. In fact, Keats has presented nature as a living being in this section.

Third stanza deals with the sense of hearing. The poet says —

” Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— “

In describing autumn, the poet alludes to the season of spring. Autumn does not have the song of spring. But she has her own music. There is the wailful choir of small gnats which directly appeals to our sense of hearing. Then there are lamb’s bleating, the songs of the hedge-crickets, the whistles of redbreast, the twittering of the swallows that appeal directly to the sense of hearing.

In light of the above discussion, we can say that in “To Autumn” Keats delightfully describes the beautiful sights, sound, and smell of nature. In this ode, Keats is found as a great lover of nature. His treatment of nature is manifested in this ode very profoundly.