John Keats once said about Lord Byron, "He describes what he sees - I describe what I imagine, mine is the hardest task." "To Autumn" is evidence of his way of thinking, as the poem is a vivid, lyrical portrayal of the English autumn, as he imagined it. The poem is written on a very literal level. It can be examined as a whole work yet each stanza can also be examined individually as a separate phase of autumn. In "To Autumn" John Keats uses vivid language and sharp contrasts in his lyrical description of the phases of a very transitional season, autumn.
             As a whole, the poem is "a lyrical description of autumn in terms of certain objects, processes, and events associated with that season, or at least with specific aspects of that season" (Moser). The poem celebrates autumn as a season of abundance, a season of reflection, a season of preparation for the winter, and a season worthy of admiration with comparison to what Romantic poetry often focuses upon - the spring. The poem utilizes many tactile words and phrases, as well as visual and auditory terms. Keats uses terms such as "mellow," "plump," "clammy," "mists," "sun," "moss'd cottage trees, ""wailful," and "loud bleat" (Keats 872). Through these images and sounds, the reader can clearly visualize the scene that Keats is painting. Additionally, he uses many poetic devices such as onomatopoeia when he uses terms like "whistles" and "twitter" and alliteration (Keats 872). Onomatopoeia and alliteration are exemplified in the following line, "Thy hair soft lifted by the winnowing wind" (Keats 872).
             In addition to the pattern of lyrical description throughout the entire poem, is the pattern of contrasts (Moser). One set of contrasts is that of augmentative and terminative meanings. Augmentative meanings refer...