Young Writers Society

1. POETRY WINDOWS: ‘TO AUTUMN’ BY JOHN KEATS
2. WHICH FALL DRINK ARE YOU?
3. REVMO RECAP
4. SHAMELESS PLUGS
5. SUBSCRIBERS

POETRY WINDOWS: ‘TO AUTUMN’ BY JOHN KEATSwritten by Liminality< PM: >

If you could write an ode to something, what would it be? I think things in nature would be a good choice, and apparently so did the poet John Keats. With autumn/fall arriving in the Northern hemisphere, this is a good time to read his ode ‘To Autumn’! (There is also a little mention of spring for those of us in the Southern hemisphere.)

What’s this?

Poetry Windows is a new column by me (Lim!) for analysing and discussing poems in as casual a way we can manage. I’m making this up as I go, but my hope is to encourage more poetry talk on the site. The plan is to share what I think about a poem’s meaning and what excites me about how it’s written – and then invite you to share your thoughts on the People’s Tab by posting with the hashtag #PoetryWindows .

The poem

[See the original with better formatting here. This link is also helpful for understanding John Keats’ 18th-century language.]

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.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee 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 hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady 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 mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Impressions

For me, the poem started off being very vibrant, almost too vibrant in the first stanza. The first lines don’t give off that impression, with subtle descriptions like “maturing sun” and “mellow fruitfulness”, but the imagery changes quite a bit in the lines that follow. The poem returns to being more subtle in the second stanza. Finally, in the third stanza, the atmosphere created is one of majesty as the poem seems to zoom back out to look at the big picture.

Imagery

After a couple of reads of this poem, I started reading the associated poem guide for ‘To Autumn’ on Poetry Foundation. This was written by Caitlin Kimball, who described the first stanza of the poem as having an “outlay of energy” and a “headiness”. I liked their observations on how effortful the harvest is made to seem. Autumn must “swell” and “plump” and “fill”. I love how specific verbs are used in the poem to describe the season, as well. It’s like the poem is showing us these processes of growth from the inside out and not what we’d see in ordinary life – apples being swelled and ripened by something, rather than apples swelling and ripening.

Form

The poem is broadly written in iambic pentameter. That means it has a pattern of alternating stressed and unstressed syllables (starting with unstressed!) and that there are five of these syllable pairs per line (10 syllables in a line total – more or less). This meter is widely known as being Shakespeare’s favourite.

‘To Autumn’ has a largely regular rhyme scheme, although the kind of rhyme may vary. For example, “wind” in the second stanza is an eye-rhyme with “find” rather than a full rhyme. That means they don’t sound the same, but they look similar on paper. Meanwhile, “bees/cease”, “brook/look” and “soft/croft” rhyme based on their vowel sounds. (I think the /r/ in “brook” and “croft” changes how the vowel is pronounced a little bit, which is why I wouldn’t classify those last two as full rhymes. Your pronunciation may differ!)

I think the variation allows the rhymes and structure to be subtler, so they don’t overshadow the content and imagery of the poem.

Themes and Meaning

Initially, I thought that the message overall was that autumn is just as good and ‘alive’ as spring or summer. After reading Kimball’s analysis though, I realised that the concept of death was a bit more prominent in the third stanza than I had thought, because of the word choice of “wailful” and “mourn” describing the sounds made by gnats. The stanzas depicting middle and later autumn also have more toned-down imagery compared to the first stanza that mentions summer’s involvement.

At the same time, I still disagree with Kimball on the poem primarily associating autumn with inevitable death. Instead, I think autumn is depicted as being ambiguous between life and death, which is why the wind “lives or dies”, and the last few lines seem to describe the goings-on in autumn in a neutral fashion, without hinting at whether the creatures are old or dying.

One question that came up for me when reading Kimball’s analysis was whether they were right about it being summer that is important in the first stanza. They write:

. . . it is summer, not autumn, that has “o’er brimm’d” the bees’ “clammy cells” (the honeycombs of their hives). Early autumn is really summer’s climax. – Caitlin Kimball

However, when I read the poem, I interpreted it as being about how early autumn is like summer or how it works together with summer. Some effort of filling the fruit still belonged to early autumn – rather than it being the time when summer’s efforts alone come to fruition. My reason is that the whole poem is written as though addressed to autumn itself, so the actions described to swell and plump the fruit seem to be attributed to autumn, too. While this is more obvious in the second stanza with “thee” clearly meaning autumn, I don’t see any reason to think the first stanza is primarily focusing on summer. Throughout the stanza, it appears that autumn and summer have been “conspiring” together to create the harvest. That contextualises the bees thinking it’s still summer, because the transition between two seasons has remained so bountiful.

Overall

I’d describe ‘To Autumn’ as a poem that shows the different sides of its subject, autumn, and also how autumn connects or disconnects to other seasons like spring and summer. I don’t think it has a definite conclusion or takeaway as to what autumn means but rather presents several options.

What do you think ‘To Autumn’ shows? What is autumn being praised for? Feel free to share your thoughts on the People’s Tab using #PoetryWindows !

WHICH FALL DRINK ARE YOU?written by Spearmint < PM: >

It's finally October! This month has such a wonderful aesthetic: golden-orange-red leaves, crisp fall breezes, and... seasonal drinks! Here's a fun little quiz to find out which drink you are =P
Answer the questions and count up which letter you answer most frequently! Check out which drink corresponds to which letter at the end.

What do you like to write?
(a) Short stories
(b) Novels or scripts
(c) Poetry
(d) A little bit of everything!

What's your favorite book to curl up with when it rains?
(a) A nostalgic book from your childhood
(b) A good, solid classic novel
(c) A riveting murder mystery
(d) A heartwarming book

Oh no, you need to go outside for some reason, but looks like the downpour increased and your friend forgot their umbrella! What do you do?
(a) Share yours with them-- it may be a bit small for two, but it'll be cozy!
(b) Pull out another umbrella-- you always come prepared
(c) Force your friend to accept your umbrella-- you and your raincoat can tough it out
(d) Whoops, you didn't bring an umbrella either. Both of you laugh and make a mad dash for shelter

Choose a smiley-face emoticon:
(a) ^w^
(b) :]
(c) :>
(d) ;D

You find a beautiful maple leaf on the sidewalk. What do you do?
(a) Bring it home and use it to decorate a notebook or card
(b) Take a couple of pictures, but leave it where it is
(c) Contemplate the contrast between the fiery colors of the leaf and the gray of the sidewalk and wonder if it could be a metaphor for something
(d) Make a wish on the leaf and blow it into the air. Be free, leaf, be free!

What would you most like to be doing right now?
(a) Sleeping/eating
(b) Being productive
(c) Writing/drawing/something artistic
(d) Going outside/something active

Favorite part about YWS?
(a) The people
(b) The events
(c) The writing
(d) The ~chaos~

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Time for your results!

(a) Candy corn punch (Recipe )



This fun drink looks just like candy corn, but it tastes like mango, orange, and vanilla. Like you, it remembers the joys of being a child and delighting in the little things!


(b) Pumpkin spice hot chocolate (Recipe )



The timeless, beloved beverage of hot chocolate, but with a seasonal twist! Like you, hot chocolate is dependable and comforting, but you also enjoy the spice that makes life interesting.


(c) London Fog (Recipe )



This simple-yet-elegant tea latte has notes of vanilla and citrus. Like you, it encourages the enjoyment of both thoughtful contemplation and little luxuries.


(d) Festive sparkling cider (Recipe )



This bright drink has a bit of everything, from apple cider to white grape juice to cinnamon. Like you, it combines many different aspects into one scintillating package!

Thanks for taking this fall drink quiz, and I hope you have a fabulous October!! =D

REVMO RECAP written by IcyFlame< PM: >


The YWS Annual Review Month (or RevMo for short) is finally over and here at Squills we're going to give you a round up of how the whole event transpired.

We managed an amazing 677 reviews for the month with 55 YWSers taking part. That's no small number, so cheers all around please!

COLOUR CHALLENGE

Lots of users took part in this year's Colour Challenge . These 12 reviewers completed at least 5 reviews and earned a cool Dodger Blue username! @WritersUnlock @farq4d @envy @thepotatoryan @teatiime @alpacaboss @cookiesandcream123 @brookewritesbooks @AyumiGosu17 @Lullaby @Horisun @dragonight9

A further 7 users made it to 10+ reviews to earn a dark violet username. Congrats to @spottedpebble @KaiaJersaga @Serrurie @alliyah @GengarIsBestBoy @ariah347 @Liminality

2 more reviewers earned a jazzy pink username with their 20+ reviews for the month. Well done @vampricone6783 @AilahEvelynMae!

An additional 3 reviewers managed to review 35+ times over the month. These reviewers earned themselves a fabulous medium sea green username. @LuminescentAnt @OrabellaAvenue @foxmaster

5 reviewers went even further, to earn an aptly named victory gold username by doing over 50 reviews last month! @Ventomology @IcyFlame @Plume @Rose and @Rinisha.

@Ventomology did the most reviews of the month, coming in with over 75 reviews! We're seriously impressed.


TEAM TORTOISE

Team Tortoise last month saw an amazing group of reviewers undertaking the monumental task of marching in with a review every single day. These users are @Ventomology, @IcyFlame, @Plume, @Rose, @Rinisha, @LuminescentAnt, and @OrabellaAvenue. All 7reviewers earned the option of a dark cyan username by reviewing at least once per day every day in September. Great job!


OTHER UPDATES & CHALLENGES

Following RevMo, we're closer than ever to clearing out the Green Room and with that of course comes the search for the Golden Goose and the potential rise of The Afterwatch for those who are involved in the Knights of the Green Room.

13 users also took part in the infamous Checklist Challenge and it looks like quite a few prizes will be given out for everyone's efforts - more than one user even completed all fifty challenges!

Don't forget to also check out the RevMo Banner Contest . Take a look at the banners that have been submitted and be prepared to vote for your favourites

We at Squills are always sad when RevMo is over for another year and all the funky usernames go back to normal. But there are plenty more site events to get involved with before 2023 is over, and we'll be sure to keep you updated on them all!

SHAMELESS PLUGS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

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JOIN THE FALL AVATAR COLLAGE

It is spooky season - so it's time to get out the kettle-corn, pumpkin spiced lattes, and of course change your avatar to an appropriately fall / Halloween look! If you want to be part of a fun Autumn / Halloween themed collage, please post a link to your avatar in THIS THREAD before October 25th to be included!

So far we've got lots of lovely participants joining in with a full range of spooky, fall-seasoned, and delightful avvies - join in on the fun and take a look at the Autumn decor!

IT IS HALLOWEEN-SEASON

(PM alliyah for questions)


That's all folks~ Now send us yours.

SUBSCRIBERS

written by SquillsBot < PM: >

Find an enspoiler-ed a list of our subscribers!

Do you, too, want to be enspoiler-ed and receive a personal biweekly notification when the Squills newsletter is posted? Shoot a PM over to SquillsBot to let them know, and you'll be pinged along with the next issue!