Question

Which two lines in this excerpt from John Keats's "Ode to Autumn" reflect the theme of growth and maturation? 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, Drowsed 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 cider-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Answer 1

Answer: The two lines in the excerpt that reflect the theme of growth and maturation are "To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees" and "To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells".

Explanation: These two lines make reference to the process of maturation and growth of the apples, the gourd and the hazel shells. In that way, Keats depicts autumn as the season in which nature finally reaches maturity. Moreover, the author resorts to different literary devices throughout the poem, such as imagery and personification. He emphasizes the power of autumn, which is able to make the apples ripe and to make the gourd swell.

Answer 2

 "To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, and fill all fruit with ripeness to the core."  In these sentence,s the picture is of bending trees, and the fruit are completely ripe, representing maturation. And the growth we find in the following line: "to set budding more, and still more, later flowers for the bees".