The first time I read through Blok’s “Autumn Day” I was struck by his sad tone, especially because, on the surface, it seemed to deal with very similar natural themes to the other works we have read. Upon my second reading, I was interested in the double meaning of the word “crane.” Though at first I read it as crane the animal, it could also be a construction crane. The leader, who I initially assumed was the leader of the flock of birds, could be the head worker crying out instructions to his other workers. The dark imagery of the rest of the poem supports this reading of industrialization. Blok writes that “no eye can count or measure… / and burning a hole in the dusk / a fire in a distant pasture…” (90). This “fire in the distant pasture” could symbolize the destruction of nature, specifically the idealistic pastoral image that occupies so much of Russian natural literature.
After witnessing the destruction of the land first-hand, the speaker of the poem questions “poor land, poor land, what do you mean / to the heart that moves in me?” (91). Though the speaker is devastated by the sight of the demolition of nature, he is already questioning what the natural land really meant to him. I think that this shows that, although there are many advocates for the environment and for preservation of natural landscapes, people are too quick to embrace industry, regardless of the natural cost.