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Robert Frost: Reluctance

Out through the fields and the woods
   And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
   And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
   And lo, it is ended.
 
The leaves are all dead on the ground,
   Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
   And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
   When others are sleeping.
 
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
   No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
   The flowers of the witch hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
   But the feet question ‘Whither?’
 
Ah, when to the heart of man
   Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
   To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
   Of a love or a season?
 
Public domain


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12 comments on “Robert Frost: Reluctance

  1. charliebrice2017
    December 18, 2020
    charliebrice2017's avatar

    Love this one. Thanks for posting. Charlie

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Judy Brice
    December 18, 2020
    Judy Brice's avatar

    Lovely! Thanks for posting this!–Judy Brice

    Liked by 2 people

  3. russell buker
    December 18, 2020
    russell buker's avatar

    Ah, when to the heart of man
    Was it ever less than a treason
    To go with the drift of things,

    thank you for this

    Liked by 1 person

  4. mollyfisk
    December 18, 2020
    mollyfisk's avatar

    One of the first poems I memorized, long before I was a poet myself. I still don’t understand why he started stanza 3 with “And,” but ours is not to reason why… Thanks, Mike/Michael, for posting this today. xo

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Barbara Huntington
    December 18, 2020
    Barbara Huntington's avatar

    Thank you. Sometimes you just need a poem.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. rosemaryboehm
    December 18, 2020
    rosemaryboehm's avatar

    Apart from being one of the many Robert Frost lovers – this is a particularly gorgeous poem.

    Liked by 2 people

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