"Spring and Fall" by Gerard M. Hopkins

Notes From Spring and Fall Poem

• The First thing I noticed was the title of the poem. The poem must have something to do with the seasons of spring and fall. 

Line 1:  Golden grove is unleaving, and Margaret is asked if she is grieving because of it? 

Vocabulary & Diction: The first words noticed are Golden Grove and unleaving. Is golden grove a person, or a place given the physical properties of a person? Does unleaving relate to the leaves in the fall? 

Line 2: You is Margaret. Can she care for the leaves, similar to the things of man.

Vocabulary & Diction: The words in these lines relate to the unleaving in the previous line. There is a connection between the leaves, leaves falling, and the nature of man.

Line 3: As we grow older, we will see things worse than the falling of leaves. Winter comes after the leaves fall.

First impressions: Speaker starts with the word "Ah." showing they had a thought, or an idea of some sort. 

Line 4: What is leafmeal? Something about singing words of wanword? Is Wanword another location?

Discerning patterns: There is a different pace in this line. "By and by", "nor spare a sigh."

Line 5: Margaret will know why she cries.

Discerning patterns: The idea of crying relates to grieving; both usually go together. 

Line 6: Sorrow is the same, no matter what name is pinned on it.

Symbolism, schemes, tropes: Spring's sorrow could be a metaphor for the sadness Margaret feels. 

Line 7: The mind cannot express what the heart feels, or the mouth. 

Discerning Patterns: What the heart desires to express is left out. 

Line 8: Man was born for death, and someone mourns for Margaret.

  Point of View: In line 2, we assume You is Margaret, but you cannot mourn for Margaret if you is Margaret.