Early autumn can be a placid time of year in some parts of the US and abroad. Some places then receive severe frost that takes hold and help cause leaves to fall from trees. In the northeastern United States, autumn usually begins in late September, so summer berries are at the end of their fruiting. Kinnell likely chose this season as the poem’s setting because, for him, it is a peaceful space between the heat of summer and the freeze of deep autumn.

In poetry, autumn is also associated with maturity. In this case, Kinnell uses early autumn as a metaphor for the maturity of his verse. The poem’s speaker could forage blackberries in other seasons, but there might be more difficulties in place: the berries may not be ripe, he may encounter more dangerous animals like a bear, or the thorns may be thicker compared to the size of the berries. Because the speaker is an expert at his work, he knows to go out at exactly this time of year to gather blackberries with the least hassle. This maturity of knowledge correlates to the poet’s expertise with choosing the correct words when crafting a poem.