1. In ‘Autumn’, how does the poet present the effects of the season of autumn?

[24]

In ‘Autumn’, the poet displays autumn as being cunningly evil in its constant task of having to
ending summer and signalling the beginning of winter, stealing the joy associated from the
summer.

Bold explores how autumn removes the valuable life brought on by spring and
summer, through the use of the metaphor of the ‘robber’. This metaphor suggests how
autumn is an unwanted presence which happens eventually, and that it takes what it wanted
– ‘the green stuff’. Here, life is contrasted with money – signifying its importance and value
in the natural cycle of the seasons. As a result, ‘this theft chills the world’ as everywhere
becomes affected by the global presence of autumn – implying the intensity of how autumn
ruin’s joy by beginning to kill life with less pleasant weather and colder temperatures.
Autumn’s theft is also presented as being repetitive, as seen by the adjective ‘experienced’
connotating to the how autumn repeats its cycle each year and is still dreaded.
Moreover, this is further reinforced by the presentation of autumn as being
meticulous, carefully plotting each part of its plan to remove any natural life. Autumn is
described as taking careful measures such as ‘diversions’ and ‘distractions’, implying how
autumn is cunning in its ways attempting to fool people with its ‘colourful’ beauty. This
alludes to the unpleasant nature of the season, often associated with unpleasant weather,
despite its apparent beauty. In addition to this, Autumn’s acts of dextrous planning implies
how the theft is almost rehearsed – it has been repeated over and over again each year
continuously, perhaps reflecting the monotonous and tedious atmosphere that the season
brings in contrast to a more vibrant summer. This is enhanced through the use of
enjambment, where each line keeps continuing on, suggesting that autumn is tedious, and
also alluding to how the theft has been devised to very fine details and is very intricate.
Thus, autumn is presented as being a season of dread and bore, carefully removing all joy
accumulated by all life during the summer months.
Furthermore, the season is presented as being an annoyance, with its cruelty ending
up in the inconvenience of life. The phrase ‘blown in the faces’ suggests how autumn is a
bully, taunting its power over life from its ability to ruin all joy preceding it. The noun phrase
‘inquisitive strangers’ is ambiguous and autumn is portrayed as being an annoyance to these
strangers, indicating the scale of the season’s power. The ambiguity suggests a dual meaning
to who the strangers are – whether they are the plants hidden from the fall of leaves, or
animals or creatures which fall victim to leaves blown into their faces. As a result, autumn’s
vexing is seen to encompass the entirety of life – flora and fauna – alluding to its bullying
nature. On the other hand, the use of the adjective ‘inquisitive’ conveys confusion –
becoming ironic; autumn believes it is powerful, yet it seems to just be a dread or a tire for
other life, resulting in confusion from its inflicting nature. As a result, autumn is pictured as
being powerful and powerless at the same time – despite its ability to remove all joy from
the previous seasons.
Overall, autumn is portrayed as being inflicting and callous, through its devious
manufacturing and devising of ways to present itself in its beauty but inflict all life on a
global scale. However, autumn is eventually replaced with the harshness of winter, indicating
its self-fragility, despite its bullying nature. Throughout the poem, autumn is revered as a
powerful being – able to affect all life around it, but towards the end – despite its ‘chills’ on
the world, autumn is reminded that it has a place in the cyclical nature of the seasons and is
also powerless – unable to break free from the chains in its yearly cycle.
2. In both ‘Today’ and ‘Autumn’ the speakers describe attitudes towards the seasons.
What are the similarities and/or differences between the ways the poets present
these attitudes?

In both ‘Today’ and ‘Autumn’ the seasons are represented as being fleeting moments of
time that must be savoured. In ‘Today’, the beginning indicates that moments of
perfection are rare – indicated by the word ‘if’, which signifies the probabilistic nature
that perfect spring season brings. As a result this presents the season as being brief
which must be cherished. Likewise, in ‘Autumn’, the season is described as being
‘experienced’ indicating its repetitive nature from it being removed and replaced each
year as its theft becomes an action is has to rehearse for years. On the other hand,
through the cyclical nature of the season, in both ‘Today’ and ‘Autumn’, the seasons are
also presented as eternal and long-lasting – at the end of ‘Today’ every day is seen to be
the ‘perfect day’ as ‘today’ represents any day. Likewise, in ‘Autumn’ the cyclical nature
of autumn causes it to be monotonous. In other words, seasons are fleeting throughout
the year, but it will always return.
On the other hand, ‘Today’ and ‘Autumn’ explore the effects of seasons differently. In
‘Autumn’, autumn is seen to be inflicting – as it is a ‘robber’ which blows leaves ‘in the
faces of inquisitive strangers’. Autumn is seen as negatively and callously being an
inconvenience to life around it. On the other hand, in ‘Today’, spring is represented as
being ‘perfect’, with the description of every day bright surroundings capturing spring as
uplifting, bright and positive. Whilst in ‘Autumn’, spring (and summer) is mentioned as
the precious life that is being robbed, the main season is referred to as being negative –
being cunning and callous, but in ‘Today’, spring is the pleasant convenience that aids
you as ‘you felt like taking’. Moreover, ‘Today’ is structured in one sentence, implying
spring is similar to a dream which does not end, due to the train of ideas and thoughts
never ending till the very end. Hence, the seasons are explored differently in their impact
being positive or negative.
 1. In ‘A London Thoroughfaire. 2am.’ How does the poet present the speaker’s feelings
about the city at night?

In ‘A London Thoroughfaire. 2am’, the city at night is described as being bright, busy and
filthy, in contrast to the natural surroundings such as the moon, suggesting the city is
unnatural.

Through the use of sibilance, the city is described as being ‘squalid’ and ‘sinister’,
suggesting the filthy nature of mankind’s development compared to nature. The use of
sibilance suggests that the town is mysterious and secretive, alluding to its foreign nature as
it is unnatural. The adjectives ‘squalid’ and ‘sinister’ imply the city is afflicting nature and is
not natural, as if it is tainting the beauty of nature with its dirt. As a result, the city is
described as being in squalor and disgust in contrast to the beautiful nature – implying that
as the busy life of the town decays as night falls, the city becomes reduced to its sole state of
being a place of disease and dirt. This is juxtaposed with the description of the street as
being ‘silver-barred’ from the Moon’s influence. The adjective ‘silver’ indicates the beauty of
this one part of the city in the night which has been shone by nature, exemplifying the filth
around the city. In other words, the city at night is a place of darkness and filth that even
nature’s brightest lamp in the night – the Moon cannot bring light upon.

Furthermore, these ideas of the city being ‘alien’ are further exemplified through the
juxtaposition of the city’s description with the description of savouring nature’s beauty. In
the third stanza, the poet describes the Moon as being unable ‘to light the city.’ As a result,
this implies how the city is unnatural and its darkness of squalor has surpassed nature’s
ability. In some way, this perhaps reflects how human civilisation has developed beyond
nature, with the city’s large developments – despite the ‘filth’ – has surpassed nature and
has led to the use of artificial lighting of the ‘lamps’ instead of the natural Moon. As a result,
whilst the city becomes a symbol for the filth and infliction of mankind’s developments, it
also represents the achievements of mankind – one that has developed from nature and
now continues without it, through the lights that appear during the night.

Throughout the poem, the city at night is presented as being uncomfortable against
nature. People are described as ‘tramps’ and ‘night-walkers’ – alluding to the ‘alien’ feeling
the city has created away from nature. The noun ‘tramps’ again suggests how mankind is
filthy, compared to the beauty of mankind, but despite this has risen above it – as the Moon
is unable to exert her authority over the city. Moreover, the noun ‘night-walkers’ suggests
that human civilisation has developed beyond the natural cycle of night and day, with people
being awake during the night – connotating once again to how mankind has surpassed
nature despite its filth. The city at night becomes a metaphor for the affliction of mankind on
nature with its uncomforting nature, even though it has risen above nature. Despite that, at
the end of the poem, the poet returns to the solace of nature – outright declaring her ‘love’
to the Moon. As a result, this implies to how humans still rely on nature, as when the night
arrives in the city, the natural pace of busy day life slows down and nature’s beauty is
glamoured upon. This thus exemplifies and reinforces the idea of the town being
inconsequential to nature’s appearance and natural outlook.

Overall, the poem suggests that the city is ‘sinister’ and ‘squalid’, with people being
unnatural and opposing nature’s authority – such that the city itself has become ‘alien’. In
consequence to this, the city at night symbolises how it is vanquished by nature’s ordinary
beauty, despite the belief of how it has vanquished nature itself through achieving
independence from nature.
 2. In both ‘November Night, Edinburgh’ and ‘A London Thoroughfare. 2AM’ the
speakers describe attitudes towards the city at night. What are the similarities and/or
differences between the methods the poets use to present these attitudes? [8]

In both ‘November Night, Edinburgh’ and ‘A London Thoroughfare’, description is used, but
presents different ideas about the city at night. In ‘A London Thoroughfare’, nature is
depicted as being comforting, as seen by the person standing by the window to ‘watch the
moon.’ Here, she is at comfort, from nature which takes her mind away from the squalor and
disgust in the city. Moreover, this is reinforced by the description of the positive imagery of
‘the plum-coloured night’ – comparing the night to a fruit that is sweet. On the other hand,
description is used in ‘November Night, Edinburgh’ to capture the infliction of nature on
man – with its ‘frost in my lungs’ and ‘harsh’ embodying the callous nature the environment
has to the people in the city. The adjective ‘harsh’ implies that nature is cruel to mankind,
and they have to resort to their ways in the city to be shielded from nature – in contrast to
the first poem.

Towards the end of the poems, there is a zooming out to the general world and
situation, but in different perspectives. In ‘November Night, Edinburgh’, the world is
described as ‘a bear shrugged in his den’ suggesting how it must protect itself from the
unforgiveness of nature – as it is a bear hidden and retreated to its safe home. However, in
‘A London Thoroughfare 2am’, nature is described as being a friend with ‘I know the moon’
referring to her as an acquaintance which is soothing. This conveys that instead of being
shielded away from nature, mankind should embrace nature as it is relaxing and more
natural – compared to the filth and squalor of the ‘alien city’.

Within the poem, similar techniques and methods are used to convey different
attitudes. In the first poem of ‘A London Thoroughfare’, man is the evil and nature is where
solace can be found with it being taintless – depicted by ‘lustreless’. On the other hand, in a
‘November Night, Edinburgh’, nature is depicted as being evil with it forcing the world to
retreat to safety. This difference perhaps reflects how the environment in London is different
to Edinburgh. In a city of filth, nature is what people must turn to, in order to ‘cleanse’ and
soothe themselves. However, in a less filthy city, people must find themselves to first protect
themselves from nature, in order to survive.