Urgent

[Avicenna]

So, english literature exam tomorrow, poetry revision. I'll get to the point:

I need an answer, FAST. I would really appreciate it.

Question: Do leaves shed gradually or suddenly during autumn? Just generally, no specific examples required.

In case anyone is curious, needed to understand a certain metaphor in a stale poem.

PLEASE PM, EMAIL ME AND REPLY TO THE THREAD. THANKS A LOT!

[Pannonian]

Quote the whole poem.

[Avicenna]

I just need the answer to the question, one specific detail will probably get me a whole paragraph so that should be enough. It's a metaphor for dead in WWI, so I want to know if it means they're dying all the time or that the huge offensives wipe massive amounts out at once.

[Don Corleone]

I think it's a metaphor for the sheer numbers, and the decay of what was once the vitality (the leaves/the young men) of the trees (society).

The leaves falling off the trees depends on the species of tree and where you are. Generally, it's a rather short occurrence: The leaves change color in about a week, they're gone a week to two weeks later, depending on the prevailing winds. Oddly, continuing the analogy, trees with dramatic color shifts (such as sugar maples or birch trees) lose their leaves rather quickly. Trees with bland, even ugly colors, such as oaks, shed their leaves more slowly, stretching over several weeks, even up to a month or two.

[Avicenna]

The colour mentioned was brown, and thanks a lot.