Saturday, April 28, 2012

To Autumn

This short clip captures the visual and auditory richness of the Ode by Keats that makes us reflect on nature's bounty. Each time I teach or prepare resources for the English Romantic poets, especially Keats, I am encouraged to contemplate the power of nature to restore and rejuvenate the spirit. 
Being busy in the garden in preparation for the onset of winter, autumn is by far my favourite season - without the extremes of high summer or deep winter. There are many texts that extol the virtues of the seasons but this poem has retained its ability to make the reader envisage the scene and imagine themselves within it.
For those who might be preparing work on Keats, there are some excellent websites, podcasts and wikispaces available including the following:


http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/keats.html

And by far, the best site I have found for studying Keats -

http://www.keatsian.co.uk/revision_notes_autumn.htm

Hope you enjoy perusing what is available. If you find something really wonderful, send an email and we can share it with everyone.