Spring and Fall
Poetry
|
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Spring and Fall Poem
Spring and Fall
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By Gerard Manley Hopkins
to a young child
Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás 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 wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name...
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Spring and Fall Literary Device
Figures of Speech
Alliteration: Hopkins repeats consonant sounds to make the poem musical and rhythmic. Example: “heart hears,” “ghost guessed” — the repeated ‘h’ and ‘g’ sounds create a soft, flowing effect. This matches the gentle sadness of the poem.
Imagery: Hopkins uses vivid words to help us picture and feel the scene. Example: “Goldengrove unleaving” — we can clearly see the colorful l...
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Spring and Fall Key Info
Key Facts
Author: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
Title of the Author: English poet and Jesuit priest
Full Title: Spring and Fall: to a Young Child
Total Lines: 15 lines
Stanza: 1 stanza
Genre: Poetry
Published Date: 1918 (posthumously)
Written Date: 1880
Form: Rhymed stanza (loosely based on rhyme royal)
Meter: Sprung rhythm
Rhyme Scheme: AABBCCDDDEEFFGG
Tone: Sad, refl...
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Spring and Fall Summary
Child’s Sorrow and the Change of Nature: In this part, the poet speaks to a little girl named Margaret. Margaret cries as she watches the leaves fall in autumn. She cannot understand why the colorful, beautiful leaves are falling to the ground. The poet gently tells her that her sadness is not only for the leaves. The change in nature is making her sad because, unknowingly, she is feeling the deep...
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Spring and Fall Themes
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 re...
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Spring and Fall Character
The Speaker: The speaker is Gerard Manley Hopkins himself, a priest and poet.
Margaret: Margaret is a young, sensitive child who feels sad seeing the leaves fall in autumn. She represents innocence, emotional purity, and the early stages of human awareness.
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Notes
Explore 2 detailed notes related to Spring and Fall. Each note provides in-depth analysis, explanations, and critical insights.