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Daphne du MaurierA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“On December the third the wind changed overnight and it was winter. Until then the autumn had been mellow, soft. The leaves had lingered on the trees, golden red, and the hedgerows were still green. The earth was rich where the plow had turned it.”
The narrator opens with a statement about an unusual weather phenomenon, closely followed by a description of what the weather was like before the wind changed. The passage foreshadows the role the wind will take in the story, and the description of the pleasant autumn scene provides contrast with the winter to come and creates a sense of foreboding.
“Crying, whistling, calling, they skimmed the placid sea and left the shore. Make haste, make speed, hurry and begone: yet where, and to what purpose? The restless urge of autumn, unsatisfying, sad, had put a spell upon them and they must flock, and wheel, and cry; they must spill themselves of motion before winter came.”
“‘Did you hear that?’ he said. ‘They went for me. Tried to peck my eyes.’”
By Daphne du Maurier