Rapt by Fall

Brady [Writing Center tutor] helped me cement the ambiguity of this piece into concrete, sensory imagery. His interpretations and comments on the meaning of my poem helped me to understand where to keep ambiguity and where to aid the reader with more obvious, concrete images. In the original draft, the “eddying winds” were not specifically autumn winds, and the “fronds” were not specifically sere. I added these details to signify that the poem, fundamentally, is about the season of fall and the death that it presages. The added details aid in the atmosphere of the poem, and these suggestions helped me ground the reader with images and sensory experiences.

Like plucks from some reaping guitar, I heard

The dark autumn winds echo solemnly;

Sliding a sumptuous score eddying and free

Across the fulvous leaves, crying my devoir;

To me, these notes bade a stalwart march

Whither I heard the strident, ringing strums;

Apace I plodded, happily trekking towards the hums;

Joyous that I might behold what I heeded afar.

Lustrums waned, and the sun burned black,

The music was near, thus I lumbered on

Past mounded groves peopled by sere fronds;

Until I espied the source, myself its sole claque:

An eternal gulf before me yawned, screaming

With the thrums of some despairing guitar.

Headlong I leapt, into the abysm soared far;

I fell and fell, until the song lost all meaning.

Freddy is an English major with a concentration in Creative Writing. He is an ardent fan of Romantic poetry, Weird fiction, and Horror fiction. He prefers short stories or novellas for they are conducive to his attention span. If he is not writing, reading, playing video games, or making music, then he is probably eating a bowl of cereal.