Wednesday, September 29, 2010

To Autumn, by John Keats



One of my all time favorites.




1.

SEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,        5
  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
  And still more, later flowers for the bees,
  Until they think warm days will never cease,        10
    For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
 
2.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
  Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
  Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;        15
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
  Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
    Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
  Steady thy laden head across a brook;        20
  Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
    Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
 
3.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
  Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,        25
  And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
  Among the river sallows, borne aloft
    Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;        30
  Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
  The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
    And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
 

15 comments:

  1. I love Keats, try some Neruda
    good translations are easy to come by

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  2. I would build that dome in air,
    That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
    And all who heard should see them there,
    And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
    His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
    Weave a circle round him thrice,
    And close your eyes with holy dread,
    For he on honey-dew hath fed,
    And drunk the milk of Paradise.

    Just a quick snippet of a personal favorite of my own, if it wets your appetite for more, I'd be happy to share. Love the content mate, though I'm worn out with Keats ;) Though a quality piece to be sure.

    -JKane

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  3. That was lovely.

    Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Thanks for the insightful comments on my last blog post!

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  5. looks great!
    i like it.

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  6. This makes me want to never attempt poetry again. Too good compared the stuff I have tried. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Hey! I'm totally enjoying you blog!! This stuff is fun to look at! Keep it up! :)

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