Birds (Symbol)
Birds function as shifting symbols in the poem. In the opening stanzas, they appear to represent the beauty of a summer day, as they happily "carol" during the imagined wedding of May and June. However, later in the poem, the speaker has a vision of them in the future, flying through a cold desert. She describes them as "Poor spectres of the perished spring," comparing them to ghostly remnants of the formerly warm season. By going through these two contrasting images of the birds, Brontë uses them as a symbol for the end of summer and the eventual shift away from the joyful mood of that day.
Seasons (Motif)
One of the poem's central motifs is the passing of the seasons. Brontë uses the season of summer as a vehicle for exploring ideas related to time and endings. By showing the speaker's inability to partake in the cheerful atmosphere around her, Brontë is showing how her early perception of summer's end indicates her larger perspective. The speaker is never able to fully experience the present because she is persistently caught up in the disappointment of the future. Summer, and the seasons more generally, are a potent motif because their changing is inevitable, and the natural signs of their progression are easily observed.
Celestial Shine (Symbol)
A number of images appear before the speaker in the poem's closing stanzas. They serve as a prelude to the arrival of the celestial being who tries to alter her perspective on time. The most notable of these images is the "celestial shine" that wreathes her "heather-couch." It is an overt symbol for divine intervention and represents the appearance of an otherworldly figure whose higher perspective seems to change the speaker's mind. The shine symbolizes a wider understanding of temporality.
