When Autumn Came

When Autumn Came
by Faiz Ahmed Faiz Translated by Naomi Lazard

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.

Oh, God of May have mercy.
Bless these withered bodies
with the passion of your resurrection;
make their dead veins flow with blood again.

Give some tree the gift of green again.
Let one bird sing.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19348

This poem first starts out straight forward and introduces what the poem is about – what happened to the trees in the autumn. Then the author gives personification to the trees by using words like stripped, bodies, hearts, and moan. It is very vivid and you can almost feel how the trees feel when they are losing their leaves. Then the next stanza is about what happens to the birds when the trees were stripped bare. The choice of words, similar to the first stanza, is very gruesome. The choice of words and phrases like “voice torn out of its throat”, and “dropped into the dust” makes you feel empathy for the birds. Then the third stanza is a prayer which gives a light of hope. It feels as if the person who is making this prayer is on his knees begging and pleading with God. However, it feels like he is praising God of his greatness first before asking for a favor. The last stanza ends with a plea and hope. The last line “let one bird sing” seems very powerful and shows how earnest his prayer is.