Autumn Daybreak

Name: Autumn Daybreak
Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay

The poem captures the essence of an autumn morning, marked by a cold wind that disrupts the tranquility of the speaker's bedroom. The imagery evokes a sense of urgency and change, as the wind jostles doors and rustles leaves, symbolizing the transition from summer to autumn. The speaker reflects on the delayed arrival of dawn, noting the sun's tardiness in rising, which is more evident through the gradual increase in light rather than the sun's visible presence. As the speaker observes the landscape, they notice the stripped maple trees and the hill that was obscured during the summer months. This revelation brings a sense of nostalgia and awareness of the cyclical nature of seasons. The poem conveys themes of change, memory, and the stark beauty of autumn, emphasizing the interplay between the natural world and the speaker's introspective thoughts. The imagery of bare branches and the shifting light serves to highlight the contrast between the vibrancy of summer and the somberness of autumn, ultimately reflecting on the passage of time and the inevitability of change.

By Edna St. Vincent Millay · First published 1921 · Genre: Poetry, Nature Writing, Romanticism · 159 words

First lines

Cold wind of autumn, blowing loud At dawn, a fortnight overdue, Jostling the doors, and tearing through My bedroom to rejoin the cloud, I know-for I can hear the hiss And scrape of leaves along the floor- How many boughs, lashed bare by this, Will rake the cluttered sky once more.

Tardy, and somewhat south of east, The sun will rise at length, made known More by the meagre light increased

Than by a disk in splendour shown;

When, having but to turn my head, Through the stripped maple I shall see, Bleak and remembered, patched with red, The hill all summer hid from me.

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Autumn Daybreak is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay, dated 1921 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: Edna St. Vincent Millay
Date: 1921 CE
Language: English
Genres: Poetry, Nature Writing, Romanticism, Modernism, Imagism
Length: 159 words
Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)

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Genres

Poetry — The work is a poem that employs lyrical language and explores themes of nature and change.
Nature Writing — The poem vividly describes autumn and its effects, focusing on the natural environment.
Romanticism — The themes of beauty in nature and emotional reflection align with Romantic literary ideals.
Modernism — The poem's structure and imagery reflect modernist tendencies in exploring subjective experience.