How does Keats describe the poetry of the summer season in this poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’.

In the poem, ‘The Poetry of Earth’ the poet gives a vivid description of the beauty of nature in summer. His description is full of minute details. The magic verse of the poet transforms the mundane realities of life into the poetry of summer’. On one hand, we find the harsh scorching summer-the sun tires out the birds while on the other hand, the cool and soothing shades of the trees provide them shelter. When the birds become too weary to sing, the grasshopper takes the lead. His sharp voice declares his immense enjoyment in the bounty of summer. Like the bees in ‘Ode to Autumn,’ he feels that ‘warm days will never cease’. When he is tired of merrymaking he gets the luxury of taking a rest amongst the comfortable weeds.

Show, after Keats, that the poetry of earth never comes to an end.

In ‘The Poetry of Earth’ Keats mainly focuses on the mystical aspect of nature which provides inspiration for poetry. The poet’s gaze identifies eternal beauty in the mundane realities of life. The songs of the grasshopper and cricket become the voice of eternity as their physical presence remains out of sight. Their chirping brings the vision of a deeper reality – the eternal beauty of nature which they have inherited and which finds expression through them. The poet presents a vivid picture of summer noon where the grasshopper moves from one hedge to another. This gratifies and thrills its senses and it sings in joy. Similarly, in winter when frost covers the earth, the warm chinks behind a country hearth provide shelter to the cricket and its song carries on the resonance of the poetry of earth which indeed never comes to an end. This is the main aspect of nature that Keats brings out in this poem.