Robert Frost and Wendell Berry
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.
(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 1874-1963
Stay Home
to see how well the rain
brings on the grass.
In the labor of the fields
longer than a man’s life
I am at home. Don’t come with me.
You stay home too.
I will be standing in the woods
where the old trees
move only with the wind
and then with gravity.
In the stillness of the trees
I am at home. Don’t come with me.
You stay home too. Wendell Berry 1934-
Berry follows and develops Frost. Separated by a half-century and by half the continent–Vermont to Kentucky–these two work outdoors and work on the reader with outdoor commentary. The Frost poem seems like a friendly beckoning of a visitor to take a walk. There’s not much planned, not much going on: raking a few leaves, bringing a calf into the barn. The Berry poem is a long view, a lifetime measured against the seasons, in the shade of old trees, by forces that keep life in place.
Thank you for this comment, Adrienne. I wish I had a farm… Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
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I used to read Berry all the time. I was a lot more of an agri-elitist back then, too. He does strike me as quite stern here. On the other hand I think Frost captures perfectly the actual joy of letting people in. I think of my nieces who visit our farm. At first they are tentative and hang back, but with a little gentle nudging they happily involve themselves in the smallest of barnyard tasks. It is the only time I get with these little girls and for some reason there’s something so intimate and satisfying about seeing them gather potatoes or feed the chickens. http://middlemaybooks.com/2015/08/13/reasons-im-still-not-writing/
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Adrienne
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