"To Autumn" is a poem written by English Romantic poet John Keats. The
work was composed on 19 September 1819 and published in a volume of
Keats's poetry that included Lamia and The Eve of Saint Agnes in 1820.
"To Autumn" is the final work in a group of poems known as Keats's
"1819 odes". Although he had little time throughout 1819 to devote to
poetry because of personal problems, he managed to compose "To Autumn"
after he was inspired to write the poem following a walk near
Winchester one autumnal evening. The work marks the end of his poetic
career as he needed to earn money and could no longer devote himself to
the lifestyle of a poet. A little over a year following the publication
of "To Autumn", Keats died in Rome. The poem has three stanzas, each of
eleven lines, that describe the tastes, sights, and sounds of autumn.
Much of the third stanza, however, is dedicated to diction, symbolism,
and literary devices with negative connotations, as it describes the
end of the day and the end of autumn. "To Autumn" includes an emphasis
on images of motion, growth, and maturation. The work can be
interpreted as a discussion of death, an expression of colonialist
sentiment, or as a political response to the Peterloo Massacre. "To
Autumn" has been regarded by critics as one of the most perfect short
poems in the English literature, and it is one of the most anthologized
English lyric poems.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Autumn>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
732:
Charles Martel and the Franks defeated a large Andalusian Muslim army
led by Abd er Rahman at the Battle of Tours near Tours and Poitiers.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours>
1780:
One of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record struck the Caribbean
Sea, killing at least 22,000 people over the next several days.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780>
1868:
Carlos Manuel de Céspedes made the Grito de Yara, declaring Cuban
independence from Spain, sparking the Ten Years' War.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Years%27_War>
1943:
World War II: The Kempeitai, the military police arm of the Imperial
Japanese Army, arrested and tortured over 50 civilians and civilian
internees on suspicion of their involvement in a raid on Singapore
Harbour during Operation Jaywick.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Tenth_Incident>
1973:
United States Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after being charged
with tax evasion.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiro_Agnew>
1982:
Maximilian Kolbe, who had volunteered to die in place of a stranger in
the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland, was canonized by
the Catholic Church.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
lickspittle (n):
1. A toady, brown noser, base sycophant.
2. (by extension) The practice of giving empty flattery for personal
gain
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lickspittle>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the
world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His
diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the
world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared
by the majority of the world's population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate
precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama
is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's
appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of
responsibility for a global response to global challenges."
--w:Norwegian Nobel Committee
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/w%3ANorwegian_Nobel_Committee>