ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Hello, all!

I hope you're enjoying the changing seasons here in Shikoku! Autumn is my favorite time of year. Each fall reminds me of a lovely little poem. It's by Gerard Manley Hopkins, my favorite poet, and it's very easy to understand. Plus, if you read it out loud, you will hear a very natural English rhythm! Just read it normally, and follow this simple rule: every time you see an accent mark, like "á" or "í," put an accent on that syllable.

Spring and Fall
to a young child

Márgarét, áre you gríeving [Grieving: Crying because someone is dead
Over Goldengrove unleaving? [Unleaving: Without leaves
Leáves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Áh! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same. [Springs: Here, "sources"
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed [Had: Here, "said"
What heart heard of, ghost guessed: [Ghost: Here, "a living person's soul"
It ís the blight man was born for, [Blight: Sickness, or curse
It is Margaret you mourn for. [Mourn: Synonym for "grieve"

I love this poem because it uses English very well and has great imagination, but is also very simple stylistically. Three tips for understanding:

—Hopkins makes up three words for this poem. They are all compounds, and native speakers understand them right away. They are: 1. Goldengrove. A "grove" is a small group of trees. "Goldengrove" means a grove that has turned golden, when the autumn colors come. The word tells us that in the poem, the leaves have just finished falling. 2. Wanwood. "Wan" means "pale," and is often used to describe very sick people. Thus, "wanwood" means dead trees or plants. 3. Leafmeal. My favorite made-up word! This is based on "piecemeal," which means "in small, scattered pieces." So "leafmeal" means that leaves are lying everywhere, torn up and destroyed.

—"Spring" and "Fall" have many meanings. First, they are the two seasons. Second, they also describe Margaret and Hopkins, the poet: Margaret is young (spring) and Hopkins is older (fall). Third, "Spring" means "grow out of the ground," and describes the plants Margaret loves; "fall" means the literal falling of the leaves. Fourth, "Spring" means "beginning," and "fall" means "ending." Fifth, "spring" and "fall" describe the rhythm of the poem! For example, in the line, "Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie," your voice "springs" at the stressed syllables (in bold) and "falls" at the unstressed syllables. That "up-and-down" pattern is very common in English!

—The question in this poem is, "what is 'the blight man was born for'?" The answer is: "innocence." Margaret is crying because she doesn't know that the leaves will come back in the spring. She thinks the trees are dead, because she is innocent. But when Margaret is older, like Hopkins, she won't cry about the leaves. She'll cry because she's lost her innocence. She "will weep and know why." In spring, when we are young and "fresh," we cry for simple reasons: we lose a toy, or we have to say goodbye to a friend. Everything seems so important! In fall, when we are old and "colder," we cry because we have lost that feeling of importance. Everything seems "wan," and we cry because we can't find the important things! Thus, "Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same": We cry because we have innocence, or because we've lost it; but either way, the problem of innocence is at the root of our sorrow.

So the poem is sad, but there is hope! If dead leaves can live again in the spring, maybe people can regain their innocence, too? In the poem, Hopkins remembers his innocence when he sees Margaret crying in the trees. This autumn, think of all the other autumns you've seen in the past. Take Hopkins' reminder, and try to remember your own innocence!

—Matthew