Friday, August 14, 2020

Poetry Friday: For Once, Then, Something


I love the questing and questioning nature of this one by Robert Frost.

For Once, Then, Something
Robert Frost

Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
Me myself in the summer heaven godlike
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths—and then I lost it.
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at bottom,
Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

("For Once, Then, Something" is in the public domain.)

~~~~~~~~~~

Molly is exploring the monotetra, a new form created by Michael Walker. I love her results! 
Go check out her work — and all the other Poetry Friday contributions — at Nix the comfort zone


7 comments:

mbhmaine said...

This Frost poem was new to me. I also love the questing nature of it and the title is perfect! (As someone who struggles with titles, I truly appreciate a good one when I see it!) Thanks for sharing it today.

Janice Scully said...

Fascinating poem. I'd never read it and the metaphor of looking at water and searching for truth is so thought provoking. I think I'll carry it around for a while.

tanita✿davis said...

Oh, wow - I'd not read this Frost poem before. It reminds me of a song I heard when I was a kid about a child looking everywhere - including down a well - and trying to find God. Now I want to find that song!

Linda B said...

So, is Frost questioning or is he wanting us to question? Sometimes I think his poems have below-surface meanings, but other times, they feel very clear. Intriguing to think about this one, Karaen.

Mary Lee said...

A new-to-me Frost poem, too! Love the struggle to see beyond the surface of things.

Linda Mitchell said...

ooooh! I've not seen this Frost poem before. What a beauty...we talk about making ripples in life. One drop. Thanks for sharing this.

laurasalas said...

Not sure I've ever read this one. I love a wreath of fern and cloud puffs. It feels...un-Frost-like, somehow.