The Pick-up Artist in Spring
To love that well which thou must leave ere long
Sums up the romance thing if you believe,
As some do, that the yellow leaves do hang
To leave no doubt that loving means to grieve:
One always leaves. Some stay for just a week--
Spring break, perhaps--but sometimes leaving takes
A lifetime: two, in fact. The browned leaves seek
Relief on the ground, then in: the yellow shakes.
Against the cold? Not quite. Against the leaves'
Last lingering green, the spring that cleaves to them
Even as autumn's leave-taking bereaves
Their branches, leaving hope no cold can stem.
So, leaving first is the best choice you have.
And leave that well which soon enough you'd love.
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The title makes plain that the speaker's "time of year" is cynical youth, an impression reinforced by the jazziness of "the romance thing" and "Spring break, perhaps." At the same time, though we believe in the speaker's aversion to grief, the poem betrays a respect for lifelong love, and for love's incorrigible hopefulness. It is not a heartfelt statement but a playful, often witty, treatment of love, leaves, and leaving. It works best when it flows easily, as in the first quatrain; it loses some of its elegance when we come to "the browned leaves seek...the yellow shakes" and the grammar seems to go haywire. The last line also requires a little more polish.
[This message has been edited by Richard Wilbur (edited May 12, 2008).]
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