Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 13-16
From the torrent, or the fountain—
From the red cliff of the mountain—
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold—
- Hmm—so things don't get any clearer now do they? The speaker delivers some more anaphoric lines to describe this whole mystery business that, quite frankly, is still a mystery to us.
- The point of all these lines is that this mysterious "mystery" is found everywhere.
- Rather than simply say "it was everywhere," though, or just list off 8 billion things, the speaker gets clever and refers to all several categories of things.
- So far we've got all forms of water (a "torrent," which is just a waterfall or rush of water, and a fountain), all forms of earth and land ("red cliff of the mountain"), and all forms of light (the sun).
- Next the speaker describes the sun as possessing an "autumn tint of gold."
- Autumn is a time of transition, the time when summer is just about over but when winter hasn't quite arrived yet.
- Leaves change colors, leaves fall, the weather changes, the days get shorter—you know the drill.
- The point here is that the speaker is describing his own transition—from a lonely, confused kid to somebody with access to a very powerful mystery.
- What's more, this transition is also happening on a poetic level.
- For example, the poem's meter is changing a little bit, from mostly iambs to mostly trochees. You can read a bit more about this in "Form and Meter."
- The tone is also changing, from one of frustration or depression to something a little different—a tone that still expresses alienation but also a sense of inspiration. Let's read on to see if that continues.