The Spring And The Fall

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1923

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

The Color Black

In Stanza 1 and 2, the color black appears, indicating that black symbolizes something important in the poem. In Stanza 1, the speaker says, "The trees were black where the bark was wet” (Line 3). Then in Stanza 2, the speaker notes, "The rooks went up with a raucous trill” (Line 9). Rooks are a type of crow with black plumage. Thus, before the speaker merges the spring and fall in the final stanza, the reader receives a clue that the two seasons have something in common: the color black.

Black is a dark color, and, in the general context of culture, it often represents something tragic or calamitous. For example, when the Stock Market crashed on October 17, 1987, the day became known as Black Monday. In Stanza 1, the black part of the trees acts as a warning. Although everything is fine in the moment for the speaker and her dear, a crash is coming. Even in springtime, there are inimical elements representing a threat to their love.

Later in Stanza 2, the black crows prepare the reader for the dark turn of the relationship. After the "raucous trill” (Line 9) of the crows, the dear man turns dark and begins to unkindly act toward the woman by laughing at what she admires. In Stanza 3, the speaker melds the seasons through their shared color: "The bark will drip and the birds be calling” (Line 14). As both the bark and birds are black, the color symbolizes that love’s precarious condition isn’t exclusive to the season of fall. There are hints in the spring at the dangers coming in the fall.

Spring and Fall

Edna St. Vincent Millay didn’t randomly select the two settings for the poem. The spring and the fall are critical symbols that anchor the poem in specific times of the year and help convey the poem's primary themes.

Spring symbolizes the growth of love; it’s a bountiful time. Millay exhibits the fecundity of spring with the wet bark on the trees and the "blossoming peach” (Line 5). She then underscores its amicable tendency by having her beloved perform a romantic gesture by picking the blooming fruit. The actions of the people in the spring align with what happens in nature; thus, spring symbolizes the development of love.

Conversely, fall symbolizes the disappearance of love. The noisy birds replace the fertile aspect. This isn’t a setting where things or love flourish--it’s a place where things and love denigrate. As in Stanza 1, in Stanza 2, the actions of the humans correspond with what’s occurring in nature. Like the crows, the dear makes unpleasant sounds by laughing at the woman speaker.

Of course, in the final stanza, Millay complicates the meaning of the spring and the fall by conjoining them. While spring still symbolizes growth and the presence of love and fall remains representative of decay and the absence of love, they each symbolize the inevitable cycle of life in which love comes and goes "in little ways” (Line 18), leaving the speaker hurt.

Visual and Auditory Detail

A motif in the poem relates to the senses—specifically, seeing and hearing. In Stanza 1, the sight of trees and how they were "black where the bark was wet” (Line 3) captivates the speaker. The image captivates the speaker to such an extent that she mentions them again in the following line: "I see them yet, in the spring of the year” (Line 4). Thus, sight plays a key role in the poem. What the speaker sees impacts her and her feelings about love: "He broke me a bough of the blossoming peach” (Line 5). This detail, too, was witnessed by the speaker and requires vision.

In Stanza 2, the sensory motif continues with auditory imagery. Now, it’s the "raucous trill” of the crows (Line 9). "I hear them still, in the fall of the year” (Line 10), concedes the speaker. As with the sight of the wet bark, the sound of the birds arrests the speaker, which is why she continues to hear them in her memory. Additionally, the sound of the man’s laughter lets her know their love is dissolving.

During the last stanza, the speaker says, "The bark will drip and the birds be calling” (Line 14). Of course, a person can also hear the dripping of the bark and see the birds making their noises. Senses apply to both seasons, which gives the spring and fall another commonality.