Autumn (John Clare poem) Summary

“Autumn” describes the countryside in the fall. The thistles release their seeds, which fly through the air even though there is no wind. A hot spring bubbles up, boiling hot. The ground is dry and parched, and the grass in the fields is dried up and dead. The empty fields glitter in the sun, while cobwebs blow from weed to weed. Yet this faded landscape is also beautiful. The hilltops and rivers glow in the sun, and light warms the ground and fills the air. Anyone who looks around the landscape sees “Eternity,” or a sense of sublime expansiveness beyond the ordinary world.