Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
These are the opening lines of "To Autumn", composed by John Keats, the youngest poet of the Romantic period. Here the poet addresses autumn as a living being in the tradition of the ode. In these lines the collaboration between autumn and the sun has been established.
"To Autumn" is an ode and Keats maintains the convention of opening an ode by an address to autumn. Autumn is a season. The poet gives it life in the person of a woman In other words, the poet personifies it. Autumn is a time of full harvest. The weather remains foggy but the maturing sun helps it to become a bounteous woman. She offers a complete harvest of fully ripe and tasty fruits. The relationship established between her and the sun is very significant. The sun changes continuously. In the morning, at noon and in the evening it does not give the same heat. Moreover, it revives next morning with freshness. This cycle of the sun refers to the cycle of life on earth. The sun does not give the same heat in all seasons. In England, the sunshine changes as autumn comes between summer and winter. The sun is, thus, characterised by natural mutability. "To Autumn" opens with the season's bounty introducing the law of mutability in an absolutely objective manner.
