Lesson #101: Seasonal words from British poet John Keats

October is here!

A beautiful, transformative season, as described by 19th-century poet John Keats:

‘Seasons of mist 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,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core…’

– from “To Autumn” by John Keats (1795-1821)

Keats was an English Romantic poet, and his lines are full of feeling and sensitivity.

What did you like most from the above lines? Did anything in particular make an impression on you?

👉 Take a moment to read each line slowly. You will enjoy it all the more!

👉 Read your favourite line aloud, being careful to pronounce each word clearly and sonorously.

I particularly like his opening line, ‘Seasons of mist and mellow fruitfulness…’

I enjoy the soft brightness of ‘mist’ (a noun describing a light fog) and ‘mellow’ (an adjective describing something that is softly warm to touch, taste, sight or in its sound).

by J. E. Gibbons

English language tutor and researcher at 'Learn English Through Literature' (2024)