Unity: That time of year

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang."

Throughout the poem there is a common theme of fall and winter images. These are used to symbolize death, and this is appropriate because during fall and winter, death of nature is very prevalent. The birds' songs are gone. The leaves are dead and the trees are barren. In this same way, the speaker of the poem has lost his youthfulness. He is a glowing ember that is about to burn out. All these images in the poem in some way connect to the seasons of fall and winter. During these seasons, it is popular for homes to have fires in the fireplace in order to keep warm, but the fires die out quickly in the same way that the speaker is dying. The trees lose their leaves and become barren and withered, while the speaker loses his colorfulness and lively spirit to adopt an aged look and temperament as well. However, his lover does not let her affection for him wither. In fact, he states that she lets it grow. Because she knows that their time is limited, she loves him all the more for the time that they are given.