Goldengrove unleaving

I guess the mysterious sylvan whisperings must have brought Gerard Manley Hopkins to mind. (OK, maybe not). I remember this poem from one of Prof. Westbrook's classes at PSU - the phrase that stuck in my head and keeps coming back is "Goldengrove unleaving". I love the sound of it. Try saying it - it is very satisfying. Anyway, the name of this poem is

Spring and Fall: to a young child

MARGARET, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie.
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow's springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

Gerard Manley Hopkins

random trivia: One of my great (great?) grandfather's first name was Manley.
More poem-y goodness: This site is a cool resource. It is from the Library of Congress and designed for high school teachers: A Poem A Day for American High School Students. I haven't read all of them, but it is a nice place to zip over and read something if you're in the mood. They are mostly short and really accessable.