Surrounded by nature, I learned to see the world differently all because of poetry.
On A Fall Afternoon
One beautiful fall afternoon, I experienced poetry in a way that would change my perspective. While sitting on a bench surrounded by nature’s beauty, I had an aesthetic experience. It was this sublime moment when I realized the impact poetry can have to me personally or to any individual seeking new perspectives. To Autumn by John Keats remains dear to me because it was this poem that led me to a changing realization. I gained a new perspective of fall, life, and the Earth after reading this poem. Through examples and imagery, To Autumn inspired an inward celebration of the three aforementioned subjects.
Fall
It was fall when I read this poem on a forested trail next to my home in Pennsylvania. This meant that I was surrounded by an array of leaves colored orange, red, and yellow. This time in Pennsylvania is a time when life is at its peak, and about to start its decline towards a snowy and white winter. No one described this time of year better than John Keats when he said, “And still more, later flowers for the bees, until they think of warm days will never ease, for summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.” This example took one of summer’s most delicate creatures and described their perspective. The honeybee works day and night through summer’s entirety to create honey or fill their “clammy cells.” And in the bee’s mind, like my mind as a kid, it seemed that summer would never come to an end. Even when its hive is full to the brim with honey, they keep working. In this way, Keats created my inward celebration because I related to the honeybee. During the summer, I would play all day and night feeling as if the summer days would never cease. When fall came around, it seemed an extension of summer, and it was a time for me to enjoy the leaves and the colors before they fell to the ground in the transition to winter. I cherished these months like the honeybee. Sitting on that bench, looking around at the fall beauty around me, I felt like celebrating them too.
Life
Another celebration I felt while reading this poem on that fall day was that of life. As Keats puts it, “And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft the red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; and gathering swallows twitter in the skies.” What better example is there to celebrate life than a symbolic rich animal such as the lamb? Also, what more familiar sound is there to remind us of life than a constantly chirping cricket or the soft song of a bird? Keats helped me celebrate life through the sounds I experienced on a daily basis growing up. Growing up on the east coast, the mention of crickets struck a familiar chord with me. Sitting on that bench that fall day, I heard many crickets playing, and their playing created an orchestra in my head that to this day reminds me of all the life on this Earth.Earth
Keats’ powerful imagery of nature and the beautiful season that is Autumn gave me a new perspective that day. I began to feel celebration for the beautiful earth because of this imagery. I was taken to another place when he said, “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.” Reading this line, I did not feel that I was sitting on some bench. I felt as if I was seeing exactly what he was seeing while writing this poem. I pictured the touch of a wheat field just recently reaped before fall comes to an end. I heard the sound of a group of gnats excitedly buzzing, and I smelled the scent of a willow tree (sallows) next to a river. Lastly, I felt the touch of a weak wind brush across my face. Such beautiful imagery helped me see that we should celebrate the world we live in. It is something we should cherish and preserve.
On A Bench
On that bench on that fall day, I gained new perspectives. I learned we should celebrate fall, life and this world and it was because of Keats’ examples and imagery in To Autumn. I got up from the bench and continued on my simple walk, and somehow, I knew that this spot would remain a significant spot for me long into my future. And it has, even 10 years later.
Just in case. . .
Here is a link to To Autumn: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44484/to-autumn
Image credits:
Photo one by VintPrint
Photo two by Matthew Prescott
The ability to relate to a poem is both a triumph of the poet and the reader. It makes the poem much more meaningful and it is so cool to find one that does it so well.
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