Spring and Fall
To a young child
Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
Summary of Spring and Fall
- Popularity of “Spring and Fall”: Merged in the seasonal transformation and their impacts on human beings, this beautiful short poem by Gerald Manley Hopkins, the English poet and Jesuit priest, shows his skill in writing on innocent aspects of human life. He wrote this poem in 1880 and did not publish it until his death. It witnessed its readers when it got published posthumously in 1918 in his collection. Later several publishing houses published his poems in different collections. The poem mourns the loss of innocence as well as man’s situation of mourning different things. The popularity of the poem lies in the character of Margaret, who mourns the loss of leaves of the trees during the autumn.
- “Spring and Fall” As a Representative Loss of Innocence: The poet addresses a young girl, Margaret, and questions whether she is feeling sad over the falling of the leaves of the trees of Goldengrove. Then he explains that leaves are like thoughts. Both of them leave the man. Therefore, she should not feel grief over this loss as she would have to come across several such things when growing young. It happens with a man during his lifetime. In fact, she would continue weeping throughout her life over such issues. It is because sorrows come with man and stay the same throughout one’s life. No face or mind or even ghost would have guessed that man would face such a situation.
- Major Themes in “Spring and Fall”: Loss of innocence, sorrow in man’s fate, and the loss of the familiar world are three major themes of the poem “Spring and Fall.” The poem has placed an innocent girl to present his views about the loss of innocence. The girl comes to know about the fall of leaves from the trees of Goldengrove and starts weeping. The poet explains to her that leaves are like thoughts, and they were to leave in any case. Therefore, she should not feel grief as she would have to lose several things in life when she grows up. The second point is that she is familiar with leaves and thoughts and mourns their loss. But she is unaware that she would be familiar with the sorrows which are man’s fate.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Spring and Fall
Gerard Manley Hopkins used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.
- Anaphora: It is a device that means to use words, phrases, or clauses repeatedly in successive verses. The poet shows the example of anaphora in the last two verses, such as “It is.”
- Allusion: It is a reference to a literary, historical, and social event or incident, or figure to show its importance in the existing context. The poet referred to Goldengrove, a place, to explain his position about the fall of the season.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “With your fresh thoughts care for, can you” and the sound of /o/ in “Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /s/ in “such sights” or /w/ in “will weep why” or again /s/ in “Sorrow’s spring” or /g/ in “ghost guessed.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /h/ and /g/ in “What heart heard of, ghost guessed” and the sound of /l/ and /w/ in “Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie.”
- Enjambment: It is a device in which the meanings of verse roll over to the next without having any pause or punctuation mark. The sonnet shows the use of enjambment, such as;
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Gerard Manley Hopkins used imagery in this poem such as “Ah! as the heart grows older”, “Leaves, like the things of man, you” and “Sorrow’s springs are the same.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used the metaphors such as heart, comparing it with a man growing old or sorrow as the water body.
- Rhetorical Question: It is a rhetorical device in which questions are asked not to elicit answers but to stress the idea. The poet has used a rhetorical question, such as “Margaret, are you grieving / Over Goldengrove unleaving?
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as leaves, thoughts, freshness, heart, and sights to show the man’s situation and his reaction to it.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Spring and Fall
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Gerard Manley Hopkins used end rhyme in this poem such as grieving/unleaving and you/you.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows AABB, and this continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This is a single-stanza poem, having fifteen verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a quizzical, indifferent as well as tragic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote about determinism.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
