Autumn When Autumn Came

In both poems people reflect on autumn.
Write about both poems and their effect on you.
You may wish to include some or all of these points:
The content – what they are about
The themes – ideas the poet wanted the reader to consider
The atmosphere and mood of the poem
Structure – how the poem is organised
How they are written – words and phrase you find interesting
Your personal response

When Autumn Came
This is the way that autumn came to the trees: it stripped them down to the skin, left their ebony bodies naked.
It shook out their hearts, the yellow leaves, scattered them over the ground.
Anyone could trample them out of shape undisturbed by a single moan of protest.

The birds that herald dreams were exiled from their song, each voice torn out of its throat.
They dropped into the dust even before the hunter strung his bow. Naomi Lazard

Autumn

Autumn arrives
Like an experienced robber
Grabbing the green stuff
Then cunningly covering his tracks
With a deep multitude
Of colourful distractions.
And the wind,
The wind is his accomplice
Putting an air of chaos
Into the careful diversions
So branches shake
And dead leaves are suddenly brown
In the faces of inquisitive strangers.
The theft chills the world
Changes the temper of the earth
Till the normally placid sky
Glows red with a quiet rage.

Alan Bold

Unseen Poetry

When Autumn Came
Autumn
similarities differences Content:
Who? Where? When? What?

Why do you think the poet wrote this poem?

What is the mood or atmosphere of the poem? Does it change at any point? Why?

How has the poet used language cleverly? Similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, alliteration etc.

Think why each technique has been chosen.

Give your opinion of the poem (three sentences)

Which poem did you prefer and why?