To Autumn: Stanza 1 - Summary

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Season of mists 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;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Summary

      Season of mists.....their clammy cells. In this stanza, the poet has described the bounty of Autumn. Autumn is the season of mists and of the ripening of fruit. It seems that autumn actively co-operates with the sun in bringing about the maturity of the fruits. Autumn and the sun work together for the ripening of all kinds of fruits. The wines running round the edges of branches of the apple trees are bent nearly to the ground with their weight of apples. The apple trees growing in the cottage gardens are covered with moss and are weighed down with fruit. All fruit is filled with sweetness through and through. The gourd, grows bigger and bigger. The hazel nuts are filled with a sweet kernel. Certain varieties of flowers also bloom in Autumn. The bees suck the sweetness of these flowers. To the bees, it seems, that these flowers represent a continuation of summer; the sticky cells of the honeycombs are filled to overflowing with honey, and yet Autumn provides more flowers in case the bees would like to draw more sweetness from them.