An Autumn Day: Stanza 2

An Autumn Day: Stanza 2

“An Autumn Day”: Stanza 2

Imagery and Metaphor

• Stanza 2 contains strong imagery and metaphors with references to the ‘night’, ‘day’, and ‘peace’ which can suggest the natural cycle of life and death.
• The slightly melancholic tone reinforces this theme, illustrating the inescapable reality of mortality.
• Comparing the ‘day’ to a child on a beach ‘building castles in sand’ demonstrates the transience and fragility of life and time.

Personification and Allusion

• Use of personification helps create a more vivid and relatable image, such as the allusion to the day that ‘builds with the clumsiness of a child.’
• This image could also be an allusion to the biblical phrase found in the book of Matthew about building houses on sand, suggesting the temporary and uncertain nature of our existence.

Thought-provoking Comparisons

• Sorley’s comparison of life to a child building sandcastles that are easily wiped away by the tide may provoke thoughts about the impermanence of life.
• The sandcastles could also represent hopes and dreams that are fragile and can be instantly destroyed, highlighting the theme of life’s uncertainties.

Symbolism and Simile

• The ‘wave’ metaphorically washing away the sandcastles can symbolise the passage of time and eventuality of death wiping away every trace of life.
• The phrase ‘swept away by the wave’ could serve as a simile for life’s fleeting nature, where the wave is a force stronger than the sandcastles (life), showing that ultimately, death is inescapable.