Explain the poem "Ode to Autumn" by John Keats.

"Ode to Autumn" is a three part praise to the nature of
autumn that begins with sensory imagery about spring. The poem follows the definitive
strophe, antistrope, epode structural form of an ode. Understanding
the form helps guide understanding of the ode.
The strophe (i.e., first
stanza) describes spring as the "Season of mists [rains] and mellow fruitfulness" and as
the "bosom-friend of the maturing sun." This line has an inversion of syntax in which
"maturing" precedes the noun "sun."

The structure of this
line should mean that the sun is maturing, or moving further into the year, which is a
convention usually reserved for the autumn season or the metaphoric autumn of life. Yet
in this perhaps less than successful word scheme, Keats has written "maturing sun" as a
play on words. In this syntax, "maturing" refers to the effect of the sun on the
"fruitfulness," or abundant fruits, of spring. The remainder of the stanza details the
signs of spring and ends with an allusion to summer (i.e., "later flowers for the bees")
and to autumn (i.e., "Summer has o'er-brimmed").

Stanza two
is the antistrophe, which replies to and balances the strophe. It addresses the
personification of autumn, to whom the ode is directed (i.e., "Who hath not seen thee
oft"), and describes autumn's activities related to harvest (e.g., "granary floor,"
"winnowing wind" and "perfume of poppies") and cider making (i.e., "by the
cider-press"). In keeping with the balancing function of the antistrophe, it is
delivered in a more somber tone than the strophe.

The third
stanza is the epode in which the cheerful first stanza and the more somber second stanza
are brought together and completed by Keats' description of the song of autumn. This ode
contrasts autumn to spring and corrects a conception of autumn being an inferior season
to spring. Keats points out that autumn has equally significant activities and a music
of its own, thus the poet says, "thou hast thy music too." The rest of the epode
describes that music: the flying wings of river swallows; the wind blowing or subsiding;
the crickets and redbreasts; "And gathering swallows twitter in the
skies."