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AUTUMN P.K. Page

Whoever has no house now will never have one. Whoever is alone will stay alone Will sit, read, write long letters through the evening And wander on the boulevards, up and down...

Autumn Day                              Rainer Maria Rilke

Its stain is everywhere. The sharpening air of late afternoon is now the colour of tea. Once-glycerined green leaves burned by a summer sun are brittle and ochre. Night enters day like a thief. And children fear that the beautiful daylight has gone. Whoever has no house now will never have one.

It is the best and the worst time. Around a fire, everyone laughing, brocaded curtains drawn, nowhere-anywhere-is more safe than here. The whole world is a cup one could hold in one's hand like a stone warmed by that same summer sun. But the dead or the near dead are now all knucklebone. Whoever is alone will stay alone.

Nothing to do. Nothing to really do. Toast and tea are nothing. Kettle boils dry. Shut the night out or let it in, it is a cat on the wrong side of the door whichever side it is on. A black thing with its implacable face. To avoid it you will tell yourself you are something, will sit, read, write long letters through the evening.

Even though there is bounty, a full harvest that sharp sweetness in the tea-stained air is reserved for those who have made a straw fine as a hair to suck it through- fine as a golden hair. Wearing a smile or a frown God's face is always there. It is up to you if you take your wintry restlessness into the town and wander on the boulevards, up and down. https://canpoetry.library.utoronto.ca/page/poem2.htm

Stanza 1- You can feel the sign of the onset of Autumn season everywhere. The presence of biting cold in the air could be felt in the late afternoon. The sky is now the color of "tea " i.e. golden in color. Those leaves that were once filled with chlorophyll and were green are now burned up in a summer sun and have become brittle(fragile, easily breakable), turned into dark yellowish, orange color which is known ochre. She personifies "night" as a thief, as it stealthly takes over the day for days are getting shorter and nights are longer during Autumn season. And due to the wintry autumn season the children no longer get enough time to play outside and bask in the sun. And whoever is left homeless will be left homeless for a longtime as no house can be built during this cold autumn season.

Stanza 2- It is the season where you can create good as well as bad memories. For people gather together and have bonfires or they gather around their fireplace where the family and friends can sit and have a good time. The brocade curtains are drawn and people feel safe, comfortable, warm around the fireplace as compared to any other place. Paige compares the whole world to a cup that one could hold in one's hand like a definite object. And the cup is warmed by the heat of the departing summer i.e. the cup here can be taken as a fire place which is surrounded by different kinds of people warming them with the heat of the fire burning in the fireplace. And all those who are dead or who are on their deathbed all are dead. Thus, whoever is left alone will also stay alone for a long time as during the cold, everyone wishes to stay within the comforts of their home. Stanza 3- Paige lays emphasis on the state of inactivity during Autumn season "Nothing to do. Nothing to really do." During summer season people used to gather to meet and greet each other and have toast and tea but with the onset of Autumn season people stay in their homes hence the "kettles are dry". Paige also personifies "night" as a cat sitting outside and letting people decide to take the cat inside or leave it outside alone in the night. Hence, Paige leaves the decision with the readers to embrace the long nights of Autumn or to sulk in a corner reminiscing the pleasant summer days. "A black night" is a metaphor for the approaching wintry long black night. To avoid these long wintry autumn night, Paige is indirectly urging readers to be more productive. And the only activities one can engage during Autumn is sitting down, reading books, writing long letters to their loved ones throughout the evening. Stanza 4- Even though the earth is filled with plenty of harvest -the sharp and sweetness of the harvest in golden "tea-stained" atmosphere is reserved for farmers who cut the crop and separate it from its stalk by the method of "threshing" and "winnowing" making the harvest gleam in the the golden air. The Earth is filled with its gleaming treasure but it is upto the people to decide whether they want to spend their autumn frowning or smiling, enjoying the fall of leaves by taking long walks in the town up and down the boulevards in restlessness as it's the only way to get the time rolling.