Hare School: We Should Not Assume That The Poet Is The Speaker So It Is Best To

Hare School
English Study Material
Autumn by John Clare
Class IX
Lesson 3 Bliss
Part 1
**Read the text (first two stanzas) and then go through this
study material.
What makes John Clare special among his contemporaries

(সমস ময়ি ক কয়ি দে র মদে )?
Nineteenth century English poet John Clare (1793–1864) was once

as famous a poet as John Keats. He was special in the sense
that being the son of a farm labourer(খে তমজুর), he came from
a poor family and was a working man all his life.
What makes John Clare’s poetry special?
John Clare has always been best known for his poems of rural life
and his descriptions of the natural world. He is often called a
‘peasant poet’.
Why is this poem called a first person poem?
This is a poem written in the first person. The speaker uses ‘I’ to
express his personal feelings about the season. (In general, we
should not assume that the poet is the speaker; so it is best to
use ‘speaker’ instead of ‘poet’.)
Is the title of the poem suitable?
The title of the poem is straight to the point and tells us the poem is
about autumn.
1
What kind of weather does the poet describe?
In England autumn weather is often wet and windy. The poet

describes here a wind-blown rural (গ্রা মী ণ) landscape.
What are the main features of English autumn?
Autumn (sometimes called fall) is one of the four seasons of the

year. It comes between the warm season of summer and the cold
season of winter. it covers tree months September October and
November. September and October are beautiful autumn months
when harvesting is completed and the orchards are full of ripe
fruits. Leaves of trees turn yellow and red and begin to fall. But
November, the month in which the speaker in this poem describes
the countryside scene, is windy, dull and often cold and at many
places the ground is covered with fallen leaves.
Why is autumn also called fall?
The season is also called Fall because of the falling leaves.
What does the speaker love?
The speaker lovesa the fitful gusts of late autumn wind that go on
blowing in the countryside, shaking the windows of cottages.
How is wind personified in this poem?
Here the poet personifies the wind as a robust (বলি ষ্ঠ) and restless
(চঞ্চ ) person shaking cottage windows all day long. ( casement =a
window that opens like a door)
2
What does the poet mean by ‘fitful (এদে দেমদে ) gust ( মক
হা ও )’?
The late autumn wind blows very irregularly and unsteadily,

characterized by fits and starts (=does not happen continuously,
but stops and then starts again many times.)
That is why the poet writes that the wind blew in fitful gusts.
What does ‘fitful’ mean?
Fitful means lacking steadiness or regularity, characterized by fits

and starts.
What does the wind do?
Sitting by the window the speaker sees the fitful gusts of wind go on
blowing, shaking the windows of cottages. The strong gusts blow
the dried leaves off the branches of the nearby moss-covered elm
tree and send them spinning down from the tree,"twirling by" the
windowpane(জা না র শা লি ), to the lane where they get lost among
thousands of fallen leaves scattered everywhere.
What does the wind do to the leaves?
Sitting behind a window pane the speaker loves to see the strong
gusts of wind blowing the dried leaves off the branches of the
nearby moss-covered elm tree and sending them spinning down
from the tree to the lane where they get lost among thousands of
fallen leaves scattered everywhere.
3
What is the first example of personification that we find in
the second stanza?
In the second stanza the twig is personified. The speaker says that
he loves to see the shaking twig (ছো ট ব কলিচ ডা ) dance in the wind.
On a windy late autumn day strong gusts of wind continue to blow

from morning to evening and the bare (পা তা হী না) branches of trees
shake as if they are dancing in the wind.
Where does the sparrow sit and chirp?
The speaker hears the sparrow "on the cottage rig (rig=ridge,
raised part) " –most probably the roof, or some other projecting
external part of the building.
What effect does the sparrow’s chirp have on the speaker?

How has he personified spring?
The sparrow’s cheerful chirp has a dream-like quality transporting

the speaker to the land of make-believe (কল্পনা ) making him feel for
some fleeting moments that it is still spring , the season of flowers,
which is soon going to lie at rest on the lap of summer. Here spring
is personified as a playful country girl who is untrustworthy in its
attachment to the earth and swiftly goes away.

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Hare School

English Study Material

Autumn by John Clare

What makes John Clare special among his contemporaries

Nineteenth century English poet John Clare (1793–1864) was once

What makes John Clare’s poetry special?

Why is this poem called a first person poem?

Is the title of the poem suitable?

In England autumn weather is often wet and windy. The poet

What are the main features of English autumn?

Autumn (sometimes called fall) is one of the four seasons of the

Why is autumn also called fall?

The season is also called Fall because of the falling leaves.

What does the speaker love?

How is wind personified in this poem?

The late autumn wind blows very irregularly and unsteadily,

What does ‘fitful’ mean?

Fitful means lacking steadiness or regularity, characterized by fits

What does the wind do?

What does the wind do to the leaves?

On a windy late autumn day strong gusts of wind continue to blow

Where does the sparrow sit and chirp?

What effect does the sparrow’s chirp have on the speaker?

The sparrow’s cheerful chirp has a dream-like quality transporting

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