Spring and Fall: To a Young Child

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1918

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Goldengrove, Fall, and Leaves

"Goldengrove unleaving" evokes the image of a stand of (perhaps) maple trees in Fall, shedding their brilliantly colored leaves. The bittersweet picture – the leaves are beautiful, but being lost – symbolizes the loss of Paradise as per the Biblical narrative. Goldengroves lose leaves in the season of the Fall, which here symbolizes the fall of man or the doctrine of original sin, whereby disobeying God’s wish, Adam and Eve lost Paradise. The leaves represent the things of man, or the things that give humans pleasure and a sense of accomplishment. All such things are meant to be lost. Similarly, because of original sin, humans will keep losing Paradise over and over again, as symbolized by the shedding of the leaves during the season of Fall. Interestingly, Hopkins uses the American “Fall” here, instead of the British word “Autumn” to make more explicit the poem’s Biblical symbolism.

Margaret

Margaret, the child, represents innocence and youth as well as the state of man before the Fall. In this innocent, idealized state, she is one with the glory of nature and free from the intimation of loss. However, she knows in her bones, even though her mind doesn’t comprehend yet, that this state is meant to be lost. The adult Margaret on the other hand “wíll weep and know why” (Line 9). In this sense, Margaret symbolizes every human being who goes through birth, life, and death, experiencing both the innocence of spring and the wisdom of Fall. Margaret is a motif also for the speaker’s own self; though the poem is addressed to Margaret, the speaker consoles both their own childhood self and their adult self through their interaction with child. In another reading, Margaret can also be interpreted as the symbol of the soul.

Wanwood and Leafmeal

The compound words “wanwood” and “leafmeal” occur in conjunction with the word “worlds,” thus symbolizing that the mortal world is bound to decay and die. “Wan” in “wanwood” denotes a sickly, pale pallor, while wood denotes stiffness and brittleness. Wanwood evokes the image of the corpses of trees, as well as the bones of a human corpse; it symbolizes disease and death. “Leafmeal” is another interesting word that evokes the image of dead leaves rotting at the floor of a forest. The leaves are so trodden they resemble “meal” or a grain ground to powder. Thus, leaves or the things of man are ground to dust or powder. Further, leafmeal also reminds the reader of “piecemeal,” an expression which means piece by piece, evoking the image of something being taken apart, bit by bit. The symbolism of wanwood and leafmeal depicts the stages of decay of the mortal world. The trodden leaves and dying trees also invert the idea of Fall as a season of winter fruits ripening and winter crops being harvested. The final harvest human beings reap is mortality.