Close Reading of Gerard M. Hopkins poem "Spring and Fall" (1880)

I looked up several versions of this poem. At the top of each one, underneath the title, were the words, "to a young child". This tiny clarification changes the whole meaning of the poem for me. Naturally, it drastically affected my paraphrasing of each line, and certainly altered the answers to my close reading questions. A few things I'd like to touch upon: 1) it doesn't matter if this poem is about the loss of innocence and growing up or about the changing leaves of spring and autumn, both interpretations further develop the human obsession with innocence, 2) I think my attraction and affection towards this poem strengthens when it's intentionally addressed to a young child, 3) my close reading became deeper when it became personal (my likeness for the poem). I think I have a ton more appreciation for poetry and poets after doing this exercise. Poetry is extremely difficult, more carefully thought-out than a staged scene, more critically evaluated than a Shakespeare play. It takes lots of skill, patience, and imagination to write a poem, and even more talent to evaluate it.