Loss and Grief: Margaret feels sad when she sees the leaves falling. She does not know why she is crying. But her heart feels a kind of loss. This is her first feeling of grief. The poem shows that even small things can make us feel sad. This is the beginning of learning about loss in life.

Mortality: The poet says Margaret is really sad because one day she, too, will die. The falling leaves remind her heart of death, though she does not understand it yet. This theme shows that everyone must die one day. Even children slowly start to feel this truth.