“…the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.” This image of an empty nest suggests a missing child.
The author is using foreshadowing in the following lines: “summer was dead, but autumn was not yet born”; “…last graveyard flowers were blooming”; “speaking softly the names of our dead”.
The narrator speaks in a past tense tone using words and imagery that sound like the theme could be the passing or memory of a loved one.