An Autumn Day: Stanza 5

An Autumn Day: Stanza 5

“An Autumn Day”: Stanza 5

Exploration of Themes

• This stanza drives home the theme of mortality and how human life can be as transient as the changing seasons.
• The speaker directly confronts his mortality, implying both fear and acceptance of the inevitable.

Imagery and Symbolism

• The metaphor of the ‘stormy sea’ references the challenges and dangers in life.
• The speaker’s looming despair is underscored by the symbol of the ‘falling leaf.’
• The stark imagery and potent symbols used in this stanza encapsulate the theme of mortality.

Language and Tone

• The tone becomes more sombre and introspective, reflecting the mood of the speaker as he contemplates his mortality.
• Use of powerful, emotive language presents the speaker’s state of mind effectively – words such as ‘stormy’, ‘dark’, ‘endless’, characterise the speaker’s fear of the unknown.
• The repetition of the word ‘alone’ emphasises a sense of solitude and vulnerability.

Metaphorical Connections to Other Stanzas

• This stanza links back to the first with its repeated imagery of autumn – the falling leaf metaphor is a visual embodiment of the speaker’s feelings of mortality and cyclical change.
• The season of autumn, associated with decay, transitions and endings, encapsulates the theme of this stanza – life’s impermanence.

Critical Thinking Questions

• What does the imagery of the ‘stormy sea’ and the ‘falling leaf’ signify about the speaker’s state of mind?
• How does the language used in this stanza convey the speaker’s emotions and thoughts about mortality?
• In what way does this stanza connect to the overarching themes of the poem overall?
• How does the tone alter in comparison to the previous stanzas and why?