The Human Seasons, John Keats
Meditation
Summer is coming to an end and each time the seasons transition I can’t help but take a step back and try to draw parallels to my own life. In this poem, Keats does a better job than I ever could paralleling a human life to the cycles of a year.
Spring is “lusty” over beauty, Summer “ruminates” a soul into a “contented” Autumn. The movement from youthful appetite to content reflection that allows things to “pass by unheeded as a threshold brook” ends in the death of Winter, as we all do.
Take some time to reflect on the seasons of your life. What season would you say you’re in now? How have you changed in your appetites and approach to the world from one season to the next? What comparisons could you draw from nature to your circumstances?
Hannah Wardell, Colorado Springs, CO
