Why was Margaret shocked in “Spring and Fall”?

Answer

Why was Margaret shocked in “Spring and Fall”?

In “Spring and Fall,” published posthumously in 1918, Hopkins (1844-1889) talks about a little girl named Margaret. She feels sad when she sees leaves falling in autumn. The poem shows why Margaret was shocked and sad while watching nature change.

Margaret’s Shock: Margaret was shocked when she saw the leaves falling from the trees. The poet says:

“Margaret, are you grieving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?”

Here, “Goldengrove” means a beautiful place with trees, and “unleaving” means losing its leaves. Margaret was shocked to see the beautiful green leaves dying and falling to the ground.

Real Reason Behind Sadness: At first, Margaret does not know why she feels so sad about the falling leaves. The poet says she will grow up and understand why she is sad. She will see that death and change are everywhere in life. The poet says:

“It is the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for.”

This means that the real truth behind sadness is everything will die one day. Everything, including Margaret, will die one day. The falling leaves are just a symbol of this truth.

So, we can say in “Spring and Fall,” Margaret was shocked because she saw the leaves falling. But deep in her heart, she was really feeling sad because death will eventually come for everything.