Poetry is used to express emotions and even values. However the way that poets express these feelings involves great talent and great ability. Usually poems don’t really interest me but by deconstructing them and understanding the reasons and ideas explored in the text, it has given me a greater appreciation of literature. Two poems in particular which interest me are “Dreamland” by Christina Rossetti and “To Autumn” by John Keats. “Dreamland” is a poem from the Victorian era whereas “To Autumn” is from the Romantic era. I suppose these poems interest me because they are so descriptive and give a clear and concise image of what the poet is trying to describe and the meaning in which they are trying to convey.
“To Autumn”, as the title suggests, is about the season of autumn. Keats describes the beauty of autumn in the first stanza and shares his values and beliefs with the reader. By examining this poem further, Keats’ values, attitudes and beliefs have been portrayed through his writing. He believed that autumn was also worthy of acknowledgment and was mesmerized by nature in all its beauty. He captured this by the use of descriptive words such as the line “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. Keats chose these words carefully to give the reader the best possible image to express the type of autumn morning he was trying to capture. When reading this line I visualise a cool misty morning with a relaxed, calm and “mellow” feel. Keats goes on to describe more of autumn including the “maturing sun”. These two words describe the whole image of the morning sun. It shows the sun barely up but beginning to rise when dawn is just about to break. The colours that are seen include pinks and oranges peeking over the horizon. Just by using two words an image can come to life. This is another reason this poem appeals to me. Also the line “And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core”. This line on its own gives the reader a clear image of ripened fruit ready to be picked and gives an excellent description of the landscape. The rest of the stanza goes on to describe the beauty of autumn and draws pictures of the location Keats was trying to create.
“Dreamland” however explores the discourse of death. In this poem Rossetti does not represent death in a clear approach as she doesn’t directly describe or acknowledge it. However she does use expressive words to create images that could symbolise death. For example in the first stanza Rossetti describes a woman who is in a “charmed sleep”. The words “charmed sleep” could symbolise the eternal, enchanted sleep someone encounters when they die. She also says that this woman is “lead by a single star”. This phrase could be used to symbolise God guiding the woman to heaven. This line shows the values and beliefs which Rossetti finds significant. It shows that Rossetti believes in the afterlife and values God. It can be seen by the examples above that Rossetti carefully picks the words she uses to ensure the message she conveys is easily understood and she is able express her values to readers. There are also images of the scenery where the poem is taking place. Examples of this are seen in the line “Where sunless rivers weep”. This shows plainness, darkness, sadness and possibly even lifelessness.
The second stanza of “To Autumn” has quite a different feel compared to the first stanza. In this stanza Keats extends with describing autumn, but does this by using lines such as “Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind” and also “steady thy laden head across a brook”. These lines enable the reader to relate to the poem as human characteristics have been added and the image of a woman has formed.
The second stanza of “Dreamland” is about the woman leaving. “She left the rosy mourn/she left the fields of corn”. The images created by these two lines show the woman walking away with the early morning colours in the sky in the background. Rossetti also describes the “twilight” being “cold and lorn”. This could be interpreted as the dawn, where the sun is not quite up yet, being very cold, sad and maybe even lonely.
The third and final stanza of Keats’ poem “To Autumn”, I believe, is the most descriptive out of all the stanzas. Keats asks the readers in this stanza “Where are the songs of spring?” He then follows by saying, “Think not of them, thou hast thy music too”. This could indicate Keats feelings about autumn and spring. He believes that autumn deserves admiration as it too has its own “music”. He is making a comment about the many romantic poems which focus on spring and wants the viewers to appreciate autumn more. He emphasises the harmony of autumn and wants to employ an understanding that autumn is just as important as spring. This stanza also highlights autumn as being the end of life and spring being the start. Keats explains that without one of these there would not be the other as without death you would not have life, therefore without autumn there would not be spring. At the end of this stanza the viewer has observed Keats’ beliefs and alternate views of the season and gained an understanding that autumn is essential to existence.
The last two stanzas of “Dreamland” explain how the woman is in an eternal rest and cannot feel nor see anything. This can be seen in the lines “She cannot see the grain/Ripening on hill and plain/She cannot feel the rain/Upon her hand”. Rossetti emphasises the fact that the woman will never awake and this can be seen in the lines “Till time shall cease/Sleep that no pain shall wake/Night that no morn shall break”. The final “Her perfect peace” is also another indication that death was the topic of this poem. Rossetti’s beliefs are also shown in these stanzas as she believes in eternal rest and a “perfect peace” when passed on. In addition to this poem, Emma Florence Harrison is an artist who created a painting about this poem. She lived from the late 18th century to the early 20th century and the painting was done in 1910. The painting depicts a woman floating in water with waves which flow her to the shore. She looks like she is unaware of her surroundings and doesn’t show any emotions. She is like a dead body, lifeless and motionless. This painting confirms the images which I had while reading the poem. This can show that Rossetti has done what she has set out to do as more than one reader has pictured the same image.
“To Autumn”, as the title suggests, is about the season of autumn. Keats describes the beauty of autumn in the first stanza and shares his values and beliefs with the reader. By examining this poem further, Keats’ values, attitudes and beliefs have been portrayed through his writing. He believed that autumn was also worthy of acknowledgment and was mesmerized by nature in all its beauty. He captured this by the use of descriptive words such as the line “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. Keats chose these words carefully to give the reader the best possible image to express the type of autumn morning he was trying to capture. When reading this line I visualise a cool misty morning with a relaxed, calm and “mellow” feel. Keats goes on to describe more of autumn including the “maturing sun”. These two words describe the whole image of the morning sun. It shows the sun barely up but beginning to rise when dawn is just about to break. The colours that are seen include pinks and oranges peeking over the horizon. Just by using two words an image can come to life. This is another reason this poem appeals to me. Also the line “And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core”. This line on its own gives the reader a clear image of ripened fruit ready to be picked and gives an excellent description of the landscape. The rest of the stanza goes on to describe the beauty of autumn and draws pictures of the location Keats was trying to create.
“Dreamland” however explores the discourse of death. In this poem Rossetti does not represent death in a clear approach as she doesn’t directly describe or acknowledge it. However she does use expressive words to create images that could symbolise death. For example in the first stanza Rossetti describes a woman who is in a “charmed sleep”. The words “charmed sleep” could symbolise the eternal, enchanted sleep someone encounters when they die. She also says that this woman is “lead by a single star”. This phrase could be used to symbolise God guiding the woman to heaven. This line shows the values and beliefs which Rossetti finds significant. It shows that Rossetti believes in the afterlife and values God. It can be seen by the examples above that Rossetti carefully picks the words she uses to ensure the message she conveys is easily understood and she is able express her values to readers. There are also images of the scenery where the poem is taking place. Examples of this are seen in the line “Where sunless rivers weep”. This shows plainness, darkness, sadness and possibly even lifelessness.
The second stanza of “To Autumn” has quite a different feel compared to the first stanza. In this stanza Keats extends with describing autumn, but does this by using lines such as “Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind” and also “steady thy laden head across a brook”. These lines enable the reader to relate to the poem as human characteristics have been added and the image of a woman has formed.
The second stanza of “Dreamland” is about the woman leaving. “She left the rosy mourn/she left the fields of corn”. The images created by these two lines show the woman walking away with the early morning colours in the sky in the background. Rossetti also describes the “twilight” being “cold and lorn”. This could be interpreted as the dawn, where the sun is not quite up yet, being very cold, sad and maybe even lonely.
The third and final stanza of Keats’ poem “To Autumn”, I believe, is the most descriptive out of all the stanzas. Keats asks the readers in this stanza “Where are the songs of spring?” He then follows by saying, “Think not of them, thou hast thy music too”. This could indicate Keats feelings about autumn and spring. He believes that autumn deserves admiration as it too has its own “music”. He is making a comment about the many romantic poems which focus on spring and wants the viewers to appreciate autumn more. He emphasises the harmony of autumn and wants to employ an understanding that autumn is just as important as spring. This stanza also highlights autumn as being the end of life and spring being the start. Keats explains that without one of these there would not be the other as without death you would not have life, therefore without autumn there would not be spring. At the end of this stanza the viewer has observed Keats’ beliefs and alternate views of the season and gained an understanding that autumn is essential to existence.
The last two stanzas of “Dreamland” explain how the woman is in an eternal rest and cannot feel nor see anything. This can be seen in the lines “She cannot see the grain/Ripening on hill and plain/She cannot feel the rain/Upon her hand”. Rossetti emphasises the fact that the woman will never awake and this can be seen in the lines “Till time shall cease/Sleep that no pain shall wake/Night that no morn shall break”. The final “Her perfect peace” is also another indication that death was the topic of this poem. Rossetti’s beliefs are also shown in these stanzas as she believes in eternal rest and a “perfect peace” when passed on. In addition to this poem, Emma Florence Harrison is an artist who created a painting about this poem. She lived from the late 18th century to the early 20th century and the painting was done in 1910. The painting depicts a woman floating in water with waves which flow her to the shore. She looks like she is unaware of her surroundings and doesn’t show any emotions. She is like a dead body, lifeless and motionless. This painting confirms the images which I had while reading the poem. This can show that Rossetti has done what she has set out to do as more than one reader has pictured the same image.
Dream Land
Emma Florence Harrison
1910
In both these poems the poet reveals their values, attitudes and beliefs and by doing this develop a relationship and a connection with the reader. These poems in my opinion are very interesting as I can connect with the values portrayed by the poets. I understand their attitudes towards what they are writing and I feel like I can relate with them as I share the same beliefs which have been identified in the text. By delving deeper into these two poems I have obtained a much greater understanding of the not only the meaning and technique of these poems, but poems in general.
