The Need of Being Versed in Country Things
Robert Frost – 1874-1964
The house had gone to bring again
To the midnight sky a sunset glow.
Now the chimney was all of the house that stood,
Like a pistil after the petals go.
The barn opposed across the way,
That would have joined the house in flame
Had it been the will of the wind, was left
To bear forsaken the place’s name.
No more it opened with all one end
For teams that came by the stony road
To drum on the floor with scurrying hoofs
And brush the mow with the summer load.
The birds that came to it through the air
At broken windows flew out and in,
Their murmur more like the sigh we sigh
From too much dwelling on what has been.
Yet for them the lilac renewed its leaf,
And the aged elm, though touched with fire;
And the dry pump flung up an awkward arm;
And the fence post carried a strand of wire.
For them there was really nothing sad.
But though they rejoiced in the nest they kept,
One had to be versed in country things
Not to believe the phoebes wept.
[note: a phoebe is a bird]
Considerations for Critical Thinking and Writing from Meyer & Miller, The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature, pg. 769.
- FIRST RESPONSE. What kinds of moods are produced in the speaker by the house and the birds?”The birds that came to it through the air
At broken windows flew out and in,
Their murmur more like the sigh we sigh
From too much dwelling on what has been.”“But though they rejoiced in the nest they kept,One had to be versed in country things
Not to believe the phoebes wept.”[note: a phoebe is a bird]”The house had gone to bring again
To the midnight sky a sunset glow.
Now the chimney was all of the house that stood,
Like a pistil after the petals go.{Im adding this question: why does the speaker mention sunset — the setting of the sun?] - Why is it necessary for the speaker to be “versed in country things?”
- Do you think this poem is sentimental? Why or Why not?
- What is the setting of this poem?
Figures of Speech
When the speaker says that the pump has raised its arm, he has used personification. When he says that the fence has carried wire, he is also using personification, suggesting that the fence has arms.
And the dry pump flung up an awkward arm;
And the fence post carried a strand of wire.
