A Leaf Falls

When I first read the poem “A Leaf Falls” I didn’t understand it at all. The only part that seemed coherent to me was the part that said, “a leaf falls” in parenthesis, but all of the other parts seemed like gibberish to me. Even on my second reading I didn’t understand what the poem meant at all, and I was very confused. It wasn’t until my third time reading it through that I realized that without the sentence in parenthesis it spelled out the word “loneliness.” After I realized what the poem actually said I started thinking about what it might mean. This being a very short poem it was a little difficult to try and analyze, so I had to read it a few more times. Then I started to think that the leaf falling symbolizes loneliness, and the idea of a leaf leaving a tree could be portraying leaving someone you love. A leaf falling also makes me think of autumn, which also makes me think of death and deterioration. So, this could be a poem about death and the loneliness that ensues after someone dies.