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:
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.
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.
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!
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.
A new-to-me Frost poem, too! Love the struggle to see beyond the surface of things.
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.
Not sure I've ever read this one. I love a wreath of fern and cloud puffs. It feels...un-Frost-like, somehow.
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