The story's cold autumn setting is a motif for aging and the despair that aging can incite. Autumn is traditionally associated with aging and death, since plants lose their leaves and many aspects of nature begin to go dormant at this time of year. The setting thus symbolically highlights Miss Meadows's fears of growing older, losing her romantic appear, and dying as a spinster. Meanwhile, warmer months and symbols reflect youth, vitality, and the many opportunities that people have when they are young.
One example of nature reflecting age occurs when Miss Meadows instructs her class and remembers moments with Basil before they had broken up. In the background, "[t]he willow trees, outside the high, narrow windows, waved in the wind. They had lost half their leaves.” Here, it appears that Miss Meadows's sorrow over her the breakup is connected to her fear that her own romantic appeal is fading with time, just like the willow trees losing their leaves.
Working toward the same effect is Mary Beazley's yellow chrysanthemum, which the girl offers to Miss Meadows. Chrysanthemums bloom in autumn, thereby evoking joy for young Mary, as autumn is an exciting time when she can return to school and play with her friends. But autumn has the opposite effect on Miss Meadows, and she rejects the flower due to her sense of sorrow and inability to to channel the youthful glee that Mary possesses. However, when Miss Meadows's engagement is renewed, she picks up the chrysanthemum and "held it to her lips to hide her smile," showcasing her renewed sense of youth.
Lastly, a similar dichotomy exists between the two songs that Miss Meadows's instructs her class to sing. First is the winter-themed song, which Miss Meadows chooses when she and Basil are still broken up. Here, the girls sing, “Fast! Ah, too Fast Fade the Ro-o-ses of Pleasure; Soon Autumn yields unto Wi-i-nter Drear." Again, Miss Meadows's believes she has entered her own personal autumn, as she is single at nearly 30 years old and fears that her appeal and sense of pleasure are fading like the roses in the song. But when Basil renews their engagement, Miss Meadows chooses a summer-themed song for her students, which goes, “We come here To-day with Flowers o'erladen, With Baskets of Fruit and Ribbons to boot, To-oo Congratulate….” With her sense of vitality restored, Miss Meadows feels connected to summer's bounty and blooms. And yet, as the weather is still cold and stormy, the out-of-step summer song embodies Miss Meadows’s own delusional joy about her engagement.
