--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was autumn, the springtime of death." description: "\"It was autumn, the springtime of death.\" — Tom Robbins" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg" --- # It was autumn, the springtime of death. ![“It was autumn, the springtime of death.” quote by Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg) > “It was autumn, the springtime of death.” [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Autumn metaphorically described as death's spring, suggesting renewal within decay. **In simple terms:** Autumn is death's spring. Key Takeaway Find growth in endings. Themes nature life cycles metaphor renewal Mood melancholic hopeful Type literary poetic When to use this quote - seasonal changes - personal transitions - creative writing Key Concepts literature philosophy ecology Questions to Reflect On - What endings feel like beginnings? - How do you embrace change? A Different Perspective Metaphor may obscure literal meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Autumn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) [Autumn Springtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn-springtime-3210718/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Springtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/springtime/) [Springtime Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/springtime-death-2095570/) ## Related quotes > [It was autumn, the springtime of death. Rain spattered the rotting leaves, and a wild wind wailed. Death was singing in the shower. Death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-rain-spattered-the-rotting/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Spring with its wavin' green grass and heaps of sweet-smellin' flowers on every hill and in every dale.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bean/spring-with-its-wavin-green-grass-and-heaps-of-sweet-smellin-flowers/) [Roy Bean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bean/) > [“Spring comes into Massachusetts with her famous flame. God’s breath warming the winter out of things”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-barry/spring-comes-into-massachusetts-with-her-famous-flame-god-s-breath/) [Sebastian Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-barry/) > [Buttercups and daisies, Oh, the pretty flowers; Coming ere the spring time, To tell of sunny hours. When the trees are leafless; When the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-howitt/buttercups-and-daisies-oh-the-pretty-flowers-coming-ere-the-spring/) [Mary Howitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-howitt/) > [“Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn't crowded with ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-men/ten-thousand-flowers-in-spring-the-moon-in-autumn-a-cool-breeze-in/) [Wu-Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-men/) > [“One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize there are six seasons instead of four. The poetry of four seasons is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/one-sort-of-optional-thing-you-might-do-is-to-realize-there-are-six/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [There is no season such delight can bring, as summer, autumn, winter and the spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-browne/there-is-no-season-such-delight-can-bring-as-summer-autumn-winter-and/) [William Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-browne/) > [The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-american-spring-is-by-no-means-so-agreeable-as-the-american/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [“Fall" Fall, falling, fallen. That’s the way the season Changes its tense in the long-haired maples That dot the road; the veiny hand-shaped leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-hirsch/fall-fall-falling-fallen-that-s-the-way-the-season-changes-its-tense/) [Edward Hirsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-hirsch/) > [Spring comes with flowers, autumn with the moon, summer with the breeze, winter with snow. When idle concerns don't fill your thoughts, that's your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wumen-huikai/spring-comes-with-flowers-autumn-with-the-moon-summer-with-the-breeze/) [Wumen Huikai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wumen-huikai/) > [In winter, play with the snow; in summer, play with the Sun! Do not wait for something to come; everything is already here! In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/in-winter-play-with-the-snow-in-summer-play-with-the-sun-do-not-wait/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Autumn is the Sabbath of the year; the time to think of all the past: nature's calm twilight before the darkness. It does make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cunningham-geikie/autumn-is-the-sabbath-of-the-year-the-time-to-think-of-all-the-past/) [Cunningham Geikie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cunningham-geikie/) > [It follows the seasons, beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime and ending with the hard facts of autumn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-burns/it-follows-the-seasons-beginning-each-year-with-the-fond-expectancy/) [Ken Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-burns/) > [The only authority I respect is the one that causes butterflies to fly south in fall and north in springtime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-only-authority-i-respect-is-the-one-that-causes-butterflies-to/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More by Tom Robbins > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred. Ha Ha Ho Ho Hee Hee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-believe-in-everything-nothing-is-sacred-i-believe-in-nothing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A sense of humor...is superior to any religion so far devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-sense-of-humor-is-superior-to-any-religion-so-far-devised/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the-2/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“The glue that holds the natural world together appears to be a harmonious balance of opposites: day and night, light and dark, winter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-glue-that-holds-the-natural-world-together-appears-to-be-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“religion is a paramount contributor to human misery. It is not merely the opium of the masses, it is the cyanide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-a-paramount-contributor-to-human-misery-it-is-not-merely/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/she-continued-weeping-until-the-heat-of-her-tear-water-the-sheer/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-we-accept-small-wonders-we-qualify-ourselves-to-imagine-great/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Explore all 994 Tom Robbins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More Autumn quotes > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [The American spring is by no means so agreeable as the American autumn; both move with faltering step, and slow; but this lingering pace,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-trollope/the-american-spring-is-by-no-means-so-agreeable-as-the-american/) [Frances Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-trollope/) > [“Flowers that had bloomed brilliant from spring through autumn blackened under the killing frost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/flowers-that-had-bloomed-brilliant-from-spring-through-autumn/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [“FALL I've never liked orange not even a hint of yellow though that doesn't mean I'm derange, you know. but it's still a riddle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kynna-claire/fall-i-ve-never-liked-orange-not-even-a-hint-of-yellow-though-that/) [Kynna Claire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kynna-claire/) > [The trees change their voices in autumn as well as their shapes. No longer do they whisper to one another in muffled tones as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patience-strong/the-trees-change-their-voices-in-autumn-as-well-as-their-shapes-no/) [Patience Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patience-strong/) > [The measured blood beats out the year's delay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-bogan/the-measured-blood-beats-out-the-year-s-delay/) [Louise Bogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-bogan/) > [You know how this is: if I look at the crystal moon, at the red branch of the slow autumn at my window, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-neruda/you-know-how-this-is-if-i-look-at-the-crystal-moon-at-the-red-branch/) [Pablo Neruda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-neruda/) > [“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last for ever. Even on the most beautiful days in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-crickets-felt-it-was-their-duty-to-warn-everybody-that-summertime/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-found-himself-wondering-at-times-especially-in-the-autumn-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Easter blessings All life’s sacrifices like autumn leaves awaken our senses and power to love and be whole Our Mother Earth, Our Father Sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramon-ravenswood/easter-blessings-all-life-s-sacrifices-like-autumn-leaves-awaken-our/) [Ramon Ravenswood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramon-ravenswood/) > [The lush green of the fields became a rich gold that swayed sturdily under the wind and fell at last before the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-ostenso/the-lush-green-of-the-fields-became-a-rich-gold-that-swayed-sturdily/) [Martha Ostenso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-ostenso/) > [The ascent of any route begins, in dreams at least, the autumn before. Our minds ring, involuntarily, with the alluring names of mountains, aiguilles,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-rebuffat/the-ascent-of-any-route-begins-in-dreams-at-least-the-autumn-before/) [Gaston Rebuffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-rebuffat/) > [“Autumn eats its leaf out of my hand: we are friends. From the nuts we shell time and we teach it to walk: then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-celan/autumn-eats-its-leaf-out-of-my-hand-we-are-friends-from-the-nuts-we/) [Paul Celan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-celan/) > [While cares will drop off like autumn leaves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-muir/while-cares-will-drop-off-like-autumn-leaves/) [John Muir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-muir/) > [We must learn to do economic work from all who know how, no matter who they are. We must esteem them as teachers, learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-must-learn-to-do-economic-work-from-all-who-know-how-no-matter-who/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) [Browse all 1,210 Autumn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/autumn/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It was autumn, the springtime of death.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Robbins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Autumn" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e76/tom-robbins-169_autumn_it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death-34_346685.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was autumn, the springtime of death.” — Tom Robbins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Robbins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It was autumn, the springtime of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/it-was-autumn-the-springtime-of-death/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```