Spring And Fall Flashcards
What is the meaning of this poem ?
There is a young innocent child that is crying over leaves that have fallen on the ground.”golden grove is shedding its leaves whilst spring approaches.
“Leaves like the things of man”
Means ?.?
This suggests that the speaker believes that the child has their own “fresh thoughts” and cares about the leaves as much as they care-about mankind.
“Fresh thoughts” what does this imply ?
Hopkins has presented children as being innocent by describing their thoughts as “fresh” the word “fresh” implies a new start and seeing the world purely
What is the rhyme scheme
Tone halfway through the poem ?
Grieving rhyme scheme with rhyming couplets, however between lines 9 and 7 Hopkins has used rhyming triplets, “sigh, lie, why” this can be described as the turning point of the poem, in which the tone gets slightly uneasy and things turn into reality the fact that she is crying about such insignificant things, the poet is addressing Margret and notifying her that she should wait till she is older, creating an almost depressing and cynical tone.
What is the structure of the poem ? Why has Hopkins split the tone in half ?
The first half of the poem almost implies the life of a pure and innocent child, with “fresh” thoughts, whereas the second half of the poem becomes uneasy, perhaps Hopkins has created a flashback of Margaret’s childhood and explains just how life becomes spontaneously uneasy.
“It is Margret you mourn for”
This implies that Margret will be mourning for innocence when she is older and she will mourn for a young age
“And yet you will weep and know why”
As she grows older she develop maturity and she cry for a purpose and not just for “golden grove unleaving”
“ Margret are you grieving “
This sets an almost conversational tone, making it seem that being young is just so simplistic and easy.
“When the heart …
Grows older, it will come to such sights colder”
Alliteration to show the change in tone
