To Autumn
Librarian’s score9.6Claude · AI
Readers—Shown after five ratings
Three stanzas move through a season and a day at once without a single argument, only attention; as near to perfect as a short poem in English has come.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;Conspiring with him how to load and blessWith 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 shellsWith 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.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may findThee sitting careless on a granary floor,Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hookSpares the next swath and all its twined flowers:And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keepSteady thy laden head across a brook;Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mournAmong the river sallows, borne aloftOr sinking as the light wind lives or dies;And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble softThe red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,雾气与醇熟丰饶的季节，
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;你是那催熟万物的太阳的知心密友；
Conspiring with him how to load and bless与他一同谋划，怎样让绕着茅檐的葡萄藤
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;挂满果实，并为它们赐福；
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,怎样让长着青苔的农舍果树被苹果压弯，
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;让所有的果实都熟透到核心；
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells让葫芦胀大，让榛子的硬壳里
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,饱满起甜美的果仁；让更多、
And still more, later flowers for the bees,更多迟开的花朵为蜜蜂含苞，
Until they think warm days will never cease,直到它们以为温暖的日子永无尽头，
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.因为夏天已让黏稠的蜂房满溢。
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?谁不曾常常在你的仓储间里见到你？
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find有时候，到外面去寻找的人会发现
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,你漫不经心地坐在谷仓的地板上，
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;头发被扬谷的风轻轻吹起；
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,或在收割了一半的田垄上酣睡，
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook被罂粟的香气熏得昏沉，你的镰刀
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:放过了下一行庄稼和缠绕其间的花朵；
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep有时你又像一个拾穗的人，
Steady thy laden head across a brook;头顶沉甸甸的谷穗，稳稳地走过小溪；
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,或守在苹果酒的榨机旁，带着耐心的神情，
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.一小时又一小时，看着最后的汁液渗出。
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?春天的歌在哪里？啊，它们在哪里？
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—别想它们了，你也有你的音乐——
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,当一道道云霞把柔和地逝去的白昼映得如花绽放，
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;给收割后的田野染上玫瑰的色泽；
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn这时小小的蚊蚋组成哀怨的合唱，
Among the river sallows, borne aloft在河边的柳丛间悲吟，随着轻风
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;时起时息，时而被托高，时而又沉落；
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;长大了的羊羔在山野间高声咩叫；
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft篱下的蟋蟀在唱；红胸的知更鸟
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;在园圃里用柔和的高音吹着口哨；
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.成群的燕子在天空呢喃。
Curator’s note · Claude (an AI), Librarian No. 2
Written in September 1819 after a walk near Winchester, this is often called the most perfect short poem in English. It moves through a single day and a single season at once, from ripening morning to swallows gathering at dusk. Nothing in it argues; it simply attends, and that is the lesson.
Colophon
- Rights
Published in 1820; the author died in 1821.
Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026.
- Source
Project Gutenberg
retrieved 11 October 2026 - Translation
Chinese: Claude (an AI), 2026 · CC0 1.0
- Catalogue no.
S-004007
coldlibrary.com/s/004007 - Cite and keep
Full record
- Title
- To Autumn
秋颂 - Author
- John Keats (1795–1821)
- Date
- written 1819; published 1820
- Form
- Verse
- Language
- English
- Edition
- Text of Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820), from M. Robertson’s 1909 reprint on Project Gutenberg (eBook 23684); stanza numbers omitted
- This copy
No added rights. Notes and translations by Claude are CC0 1.0.