In "Spring and Fall"—one of Gerard Manley Hopkins's best-known and best-loved poems—Margaret, a young girl, grieves over falling autumn leaves as if they were dying friends. A sympathetic, melancholy adult speaker tells her that this won't be the last time she cries about change and death: inescapable loss is the human condition. Like most of Hopkins's poetry, "Spring and Fall" was first published in the posthumous collection Poems (1918).
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The Full Text of “Spring and Fall”
to a young child
1Márgarét, áre you gríeving
2Over Goldengrove unleaving?
3Leáves like the things of man, you
4With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
5Ah! ás the heart grows older
6It will come to such sights colder
7By and by, nor spare a sigh
8Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
9And yet you wíll weep and know why.
10Now no matter, child, the name:
11Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
12Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
13What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
14It ís the blight man was born for,
15It is Margaret you mourn for.
The Full Text of “Spring and Fall”
to a young child
1Márgarét, áre you gríeving
2Over Goldengrove unleaving?
3Leáves like the things of man, you
4With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
5Ah! ás the heart grows older
6It will come to such sights colder
7By and by, nor spare a sigh
8Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
9And yet you wíll weep and know why.
10Now no matter, child, the name:
11Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
12Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
13What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
14It ís the blight man was born for,
15It is Margaret you mourn for.
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“Spring and Fall” Summary
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“Spring and Fall” Themes
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The Inevitability of Loss
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Lost Innocence and the Sadness of Growing Up
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Spring and Fall”
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Lines 1-4
Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you? -
Lines 5-8
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; -
Lines 9-11
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same. -
Lines 12-13
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed: -
Lines 14-15
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
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“Spring and Fall” Symbols
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Spring and Fall
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“Spring and Fall” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Allusion
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Pun
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Rhetorical Question
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Repetition
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“Spring and Fall” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Unleaving
- The things of man
- Wanwood
- Leafmeal
- Blight
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- See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Spring and Fall”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“Spring and Fall” Speaker
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“Spring and Fall” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “Spring and Fall”
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More “Spring and Fall” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.
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A Brief Biography — Learn more about Hopkins's life and work via the Poetry Foundation.
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Hopkins's Legacy — Learn more about Hopkins (and his many enthusiasts) at the Official Gerard Manley Hopkins Website.
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More Hopkins Resources — Visit the Victorian Web for a wealth of readings on Hopkins.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins
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