1.1. The trees have been stripped of their leaves and stand stark, bare and barren. The word “anatomy” is used to describe them, “anatomy” being the structure of the human body. The poet has personified the trees.
1.2. In stanza two the poet speaks of the “sun clouding planes:/And the dark pines” that have also been stripped of their leaves and dead bark. They “reveal(ing)” the stark barrenness of themselves and the sun is able to shine through because there are no leaves. In stanza three there is also a process of “stripping”. The olive branches lighten as the fruits have been picked and the gale force winds blow and strip them of all that cannot hold on or endure.
2. The poet has used a pun on the word “needle”. A needle is the shape of the pine tree’s leaf but it also refers to the sharp, thin, piercing shape of the sun’s rays as they shine through the trees.
3. Autumn is the season of death but what is strong and is able to endure will be revived and renewed in spring. The word “pyre” is a pile of wood that burns a dead body but it has connotations of rebirth and transformation. It is necessary for the old and the rotting to be destroyed to bring about the process of new life.