How does Gerard Manley Hopkins address death in his poem Spring and Fall?

Answer 1

In the poem "Spring and Fall" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, the speaker addresses death through the perspective of a young girl named Margaret who is mourning the falling leaves. The speaker uses the changing seasons as a metaphor for the passing of time and the inevitability of death. Margaret's sadness over the falling leaves symbolizes her realization of the transience of life and the loss of innocence that comes with growing up. Hopkins emphasizes the cyclical nature of life and death in nature, suggesting that just as the leaves fall in the autumn, so too will humans eventually experience death. The poem ultimately serves as a meditation on the universal experience of mortality and the inevitability of facing death.