" Ode to Autumn is one of the thematically rich odes of English literature. Discuss.

The central theme of the poem is ripeness and maturity. There is a sense of acceptance

about the inevitability of the seasonal cycles. The beauty of Autumn is a matter of permanence but

in real in should also pave way for the winter to come. In this understanding there likes the true Keatsian joy as he writes in Endymion :- " A thing of beauty is a joy forever." Each of the three stanzas concentrates on a dominant aspect of Autumn, but also admits and absorbs its opposites as Keats vision of not considering things in isolation. Keats rejoices, first in the relationship of season, sun and earth and then in fruition that stems from that relationship. The themes in the first stanza is conceive, growth and ripeness. 

Here all is ripeness. Growth is surprisingly going on Sun and Autumn are conspiring 'to set budding more and still more.' The cottage-tress bend, under the load of fruit, the vines hang tensely under the weight oc grapes. The stanza is packed in sweetness and nourishment. Autumn celebrates the effortless fruitfulness of nature. The totality of natures dependence is shown when the later flowers are set budding , 'for the bees', thus connecting the three kingdoms of plant, animal and human. The bees are deceived into feeling that summer will never end. 

There is a blessing in everything. In the second stanza the theme of abundance is connected with human labor. A broader landscape is described with granaries and furrows. Autumn is personified as a winnower, a gleaner and a cider-presser. First Autumn is seen as a winnower sitting near her store with her hair flowing

in the wind.

 She is also a reaper sometimes, resting near a half-reaped furrow. Autumn is also represented as a gleaner going home with fruits 'across a brook'. And finally she is seen as a cider presser crushing her apples and watching patiently the last oozings out of the juice for hours. The last stanza has nostalgia and reminiscence as its theme. The poet is reminded of the song of spring and then he realizes' not to pine for what is lost' for Autumn has its own music. The close of the year is associated with sunset. The sense of sadness is merged in the feeling of the continuous life of nature, which externally renews itself in the "wailful choir" of insects, bleating of lambs and whistling and twittering of birds. The feeling of pathos, though solemn breathes the

spirit of hope.