Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Robert Frost's Invitation
The Pasture
I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I sha'n't be gone long,--You come too.
I'm going out to fetch the little calf
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I sha'n't be gone long,--You come too.
-- Robert Frost --
Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, & Plays
The Library of America
He's inviting us to go along, but to where or to what?
One place, obviously, is the pasture, to watch him do some simple, ordinary, uncomplicated things-- things of no great consequence.
This poem is placed on a page immediately before the rest of his poetry, so I might say that this is an invitation to his poetry. Perhaps I should read this first whenever I decide it's time for Frost.
Is there somewhere else he's inviting us to go?
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i detect a grim note: what is he going to do with the calf? is he hungry? veal cutlets on toast?
ReplyDeletein past readings of Frost, i've occasionally discovered a brutal underlayment in his pastorality: "Whose woods these are i think i know..." what is he planning, here... maybe F was an incipient logger....
at any rate, i think he was well aware of the "red in tooth and claw" quality inherent in nature...
Mudpuddle,
DeleteThat's interesting, for I don't detect a "grim note." What gives you that feeling? Why does he have to have a bad reason to get the calf?
Well, as the cliche goes--beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, only partially so.
Now, now Mudpuddle....:)
DeleteTim,
ReplyDeleteYes, there is much in his poetry that seems so personal. He reminds a bit of Emily Dickinson, although he seems more accessible. With ED I'm frequently not sure if I understand her, while Frost is understandable but ambiguous so often.
I love Frost. This is a perfect introduction to his poetry and his mind.
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle's comment is interesting. I must think about it and perhaps reread some Frost to see if I think that it applies.
Brian,
DeleteYes, it's a great invitation. If one sees life as brutal, then I guess there's some brutality in all poetry that shows us reality.
I read poetry for the beautiful image it invokes, at least in my imagination. This is a lovely poem.
ReplyDeleteIt seems as if he is talking of order and calm. That is what I think of with a lot of pastoral themes. There's specific chores to do and great satisfaction in accomplishing them.
But that may be my own take. I guess it would make interesting character studies as to why we see what we do in poetry. Rather like a Rorschach test.
Sharon,
DeleteI see poetry or all literature as a collaboration between the writer and the reader. I think N. Scott Momaday's quotation that I posted about some time ago went a bit too far in claiming the writer was in complete control, but I understand where he was coming from--he disagrees with the present conceit of completely ignoring the writer and the text and giving the reader full credit for everything.
The writer, the text, and the reader are real and present and all have a role to play in the complex interrelationship of the process called reading: it is not an illusion, but it is real and present.
Sharon,
DeleteYes, I also see it that way: a simple poem about the simple chores of life, quiet and orderly, things to be done, and an invitation to come along and be a part of that. Life isn't always struggle and conflict.
Fred, I agree. When I read a book, I do want to know the author's intent. I don't think I'm free to interpret what they said howsoever I wish. It is a form of communication after all.
DeleteThat would be like me deciding what people were saying to me as opposed to what they were actually telling me.
I think the reader's participation is in our reaction to the story. How much (or little) we enjoy or relate.
Sharon,
DeleteBe careful! That's heretical in some literary circles nowadays.
I agree: it is communication and communication by its very nature must be two-way, else it ain't communication.
Fred and Sharon: well, what's a reader supposed to do when he sees something in a poem that no one seems to have mentioned?.. i admit to having a rakish imagination and i certainly don't guarantee the truth of all my propositions... speculation is an important contribution in itself, although maybe i'm wrong about that... correct me, please...
ReplyDeleteMudpuddle,
DeleteWhere do you see brutality in the poem? That's what I was questioning.
" i certainly don't guarantee the truth of all my propositions..." You don't? Does that mean that sometimes you lie in your propositions? Or do you really mean to say that you don't guarantee the accuracy of all your propositions, that you sometimes are wrong. There's a difference between being wrong and telling a lie, or at least I think so, although I have known some people who see no difference.
Tim,
DeleteIf words do not have generally agreed upon meanings, then communication is impossible.
Mudpuddle said "i detect a grim note: what is he going to do with the calf? is he hungry? veal cutlets on toast?
in past readings of Frost, i've occasionally discovered a brutal underlayment in his pastorality:"
He did not say what that grim note was nor did he explain what those brutal underlayments were.
That's all I'm asking. Granted, many interpretations are presented, but not all are equally valid. Or at least, I don't think so. If you believe all opinions are equally valid, then please let me know.
Is there something wrong with me that I thought what Mudpuddle said was kind of funny?
DeleteAlthough I would be a vegetarian if I had to slaughter my own meat.
Ignore me and read Tim. His answer is better than mine.
Tim,
Delete???
I see "cat." Why wouldn't I see "cat"?
Tim,
DeleteI detect a note of brutality underneath your comments.
Tim,
DeleteAre you asking me to explain my statement? That's what I wanted Mudpuddle to do--that's all, nothing more.
On the one hand I see Tim's point. We automatically pull from our prior knowledge in order to imagine or comprehend what the other person is expressing, be it in a poem or conversation.
DeleteHowever, there has to be ultimate consistency. When I say cat everyone pictures a different kind of cat but none of us pull a hippo or a shark out of our mental hats.
It's be impossible to communicate otherwise. But it is also why we have to elaborate or otherwise people can mistake our meaning.
Well, I'm lecturing so I'll shut up.