English Problem!

Question

Now the autumn shudders

In the rose's root...

Now the autumn clambers

Upon the trellised frame,

And the rose remembers

The dust from which it came.

Write the symbolic meaning of the lines, using specific examples.

Answer 1

Now the autumn shudders (LINE 1)

In the rose's root... (LINE 2)

Now the autumn clambers (LINE 3)

Upon the trellised frame, (LINE 4)

And the rose remembers (LINE 5)

The dust from which it came (LINE 6)

LINES 1 and 2

The rose first feels the cold of autumn in its roots

LINES 3 and 4

Having taken hold of the rose by its roots, autumn quickly climbs up the trellis to reach the rose bloom

LINES 5 and 6

This process, the changing of seasons between summer and fall, spurs the rose to reflect on the passage of time and the cycle of life

The rose is symbolic of life in all forms

Autumn is symbolic of the natural stages of life which we cannot avoid

Answer 2

Autumn shuddering and clambering stands for the ebbs and flows of the fall season. While plants and flowers start to die out, and the atmosphere becomes colder and bare during this season, guess what else happens in the fall? Harvest! Lots of crops are dug out and there are fall foods everywhere.

Autumn shuddering/root- Plants die out during this time of the year, so it is as if autumn is ravaging the rose and killing it away at the root. After all, roses (and nearly all flowers) will die during the season.

Autumn clambering- In this verse, autumn is also at its peak and coming out as the focal season. It is its turn to shine and be front and center.

Rose remembers/ dust- Knowing that our time is limited makes us humble and searching within ourselves. The rose knows that she won't be a rose forever; that her time is limited. So she remembers that, on top of that, she came from dust (soil) and will disintegrate and become dust again. All is interdependent. However, there is hope in the poem because it shows how the root does not die at its core, so a rose will grow again. And the cycle will continue.