An Explanation of Spring and Fall

An Explication of jump off and Fall To a Young Child Hopkins starts his poem, Spring and Fall To a Young Child, with a question to a girlish girl, perhaps his granddaughter Margaret, are you grieving? (line 1). This quotation suggests that Margaret is watching the leaves yielding from the trees in the fall and is sad to see the leaves go. Margaret is a young child, and in being young, she would swallow no knowledge of the seasons and why the leaves are falling. Over Goldengrove unleaving? (line 2), Goldengrove may be metaphorical for her childhood and her lack of knowledge in life and death, because Goldengrove sounds very playful and beautiful like a garden or playground. Leaves, like the things of man/ With her fair thoughts care for, can you? (line 3 and line 4), once again Hopkins uses call into question his poem, asking the young girl how she could care about such trifling things as leaves. With line three of his poem, Hopkins also implies that Margaret is showing char acteristics of man by caring about the leaves. He continues that idea in Ah s the optic grows older/(line 5). Hopkins is trying to tell Margaret that as she grows older into womanhood, her heart pass oninging as well. It will come to such sights colder. (line 6), this idea is even pull ahead continued in line six, where Hopkins tells Margaret that leaves falling from a tree is wholly the beginning of her sadness, because as she gets older, she will see worse things than that. Nor spare a sigh/Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie(line 8) Hopkins tells Margaret that as she grows older and sees how bad things are she will not dare to cry at the sight of fallen leaves ever again.But, Hopkins assures her that she will indeed still cry, Now no matter, child, the name (line 10). Hopkins so tells the child that she wont know or be commensurate to verbalize why she feels so sad Nor mouth had, no nor mind, express (line 11). Hopkins continues with It is the blight man was born for , (line 13) meaning that every ace is born to do one thing, and that is die. As Hopkinss poem comes to an end, the last line reads, It is Margaret you mourn for. (line 14). This says that Margaret will mourn her whole life away, grieving about her own infallible demise, and that she will never even realize that is why she is sad.