Poetry Analysis
Title of Poem: “October”
Author of Poem: Winifred C. Marshall
Literary devices identified and interpreted:
¨ “October is a gypsy queen…” (l. 1) – This is a metaphor. It means that the month is royal and impressive just as a queen is. The poet uses this description because autumn is a time when trees change their “clothes” to red and gold.
¨ “The meadows flame with color now…” (l. 5) – This is a metaphor. The poet is comparing the autumn leaves to fire because they are now red and gold.
¨ “Wild asters and the goldenrod bow low to greet their queen.” (l. 7-8) This is an example of personification. It describes the autumn flowers as bowing to October because as the weather changes, the flowers begin to die back, preparing for winter.
¨ The whole poem is really an extended metaphor, describing the month of October as a queen and telling what that “queen” does as autumn progresses.
¨ In this poem, the month of October is a symbol. The poet uses October to symbolize the beauty of change and the cycle of life. Instead of feeling sorrowful that summer has ended and winter coming, the beauty of October should make us rejoice in the cycle of life that the seasons represent.
My interpretation:
In this poem, the poet is describing October as a “gypsy queen” (l. 1) to create a picture in the reader’s mind. She is comparing October to the beautiful colors a gypsy queen wears. Marshall has chosen a month that is very changeable with colder nights and shorter days. This is the time of year when flowers and plants die back, and many of the birds fly south for the winter. Often these changes depress people, but the poet has described this as a happy time, with October “tripping through the wood” (l. 9) while everyone bows down to her in appreciation. This is a very different view of October than one that describes it as a dark, sad time of the year. With this view, October becomes a symbol for the cycle of life. We cannot have only one part of the cycle, but must appreciate each season and what it brings to us. I think the poet is saying that each season has its own type of beauty, and everyone should try to be grateful for them.
03/31/10 lgr