“The Lake of Autumn” is a reflective piece on Brian’s experience at a lake, surrounded by the bleak imagery of wilting natural life. The piece begins with a description of how the water, free of impurities, is cool and refreshing to the touch. However, surveying the environment, the narrator finds falling leaves dotting the view with gold, orange, and the red of Maple trees. He notes that the leaves are obstinate in the face of death, clinging onto the branches before dropping one by one in a process unbearably slow. Though the plants’ cycle of life will begin anew in the spring, the narrator reflects on the lack of mourning for their deaths, and how the faintly fragrant chrysanthemum nearby will soon wilt. Looking up, he finds the sinking sun dying the sky red behind a sea of clouds. The freedom of the eagles soaring through the clouds is overshadowed by the despair of the bleeding sun, their cries agonizing. As the scene falls quiet, there are no longer any signs of life. Only the still, abysmal lake remains, appearing immortal against the surrounding desolation.
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