Final answer:
The 'lonely heart of autumn' symbolizes fading beauty, melancholy, or the sense of an ending, reflecting themes of life's cycles, solitude, and the passage of time in literature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The phrase "lonely heart of autumn" often symbolizes a time of fading beauty, melancholy, or a sense of ending. In literature, autumn can represent the later stages of life, as in the depicted scenes of old age and decline. This metaphorical use of the season reflects not only on the cycle of nature but also on the human condition, capturing the essence of time passing, vitality diminishing, and oncoming solitude or death.
For instance, in the plight of the desolate crone, autumn might allude to her isolation and the stark reality of her aging, with her once vibrant household now silent and her familial interactions replaced by emptiness and the inevitability of mortality. Similarly, other literary excerpts evoke a comparable atmosphere, underscoring themes of solitude, waiting, and life's ephemeral nature, as characters grapple with their own 'autumns' of life.