going for the water
Going for water
The well was dry beside
the door
And so went with pail and
can,
Across the fields behind
the house
To seek the brook if still
it ran;
Not loath to have excuse
to go,
Because the Autumn eve was
fair
Though chill because the
fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods
were there,
We ran as if to meet the
moon
That slowly dawned behind
the trees,
The barren boughs without
the leaves,
Without the birds, without
the breeze,
But once within the wood,
we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she
found us soon.
Each laid on other a
staying hand
To listen ere we dared to
look,
And in the hush we joined
to make
We heard, we knew we heard
the brook
A note as from a single
place,
A slender tinkling fall
that made
Now drops that floated on
the pool
Like pearls and now a
silver blade
Robert Frost
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an
American poet. He was born on March,
1874, his works were published in
England before they were published in United States. His works were well known for its realistic
style and simple life style. Robert
Frost’s works were based with the rural setting of 20th century
England.
He won his first Pulitzer
Prizes for “A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes, “collected Poems”, and “A
Further Range in 1937. In 1934 he spent
winter months in Florida. In 1940 he
became the owner of a 5 acre plot in Florida and spent his rest of his life
there. He was honored with the
Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetic works. He became poet laureate of Vermont on 22 July
1961.
Frost died in January 29th,
1963 due to prostate surgery. He was
buried at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont.
Summary
The poem is about the
children going to find water. They cross
the fields behind their houses to find the water in the river has dried
out. The children are quite excited to
go out with the reason to find water.
They love to go out during the beautiful autumn evening. They enjoy the evening and hold hands and
wait for the sound of the river. They enjoy the quietness of the evening. They
play with the moon which comes behind them.
“The well was dry beside the door
And so went with pail and can,
Across the fields behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran;”
The poet describes that
the people/children go in search of the water as the well is dry behind their
house. They carry pail and can and cross the fields behind their houses to
search water. They don’t have water for
their survival. They search water and go to find it.
“Not loath to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
Though chill because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there,”
They want to go out to
enjoy the beautiful autumn evening. They
find this as an excuse. So they make a
false excuse and go out to enjoy the evening.
The fields are theirs and the brook near the woods are there. They enjoy the autumn evening.
“We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze,”
The poet describes the autumn evening with its beauty. The evening comes as the day exits. They welcome the moon which hides behind the
trees. There are no leaves in the trees.
No songs of birds to beautify the evening and no breeze to inhale. Everything is still and silent.
“But once within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.”
Once they enter the wood, they think that the moon can see
them. When the moon finds them, they run
away to hide from the moon laughing with excitement. They enjoy this to the maximum. It is part of their life. The gnomes is a good reference to the evening
excitement. Its gives a magic experience
to the poem.
“Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen ere we dared to look,
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook”
The description about
their feelings are well painted. They
hear the sound of the river. It is like
a music for them. They stand still and
hold each other’s hand to warn them not to make a sound. The sound they heard
from the brook. It is a happy moment to hear the sound of the river. It’s the basic need for their survival, and
it give them the hope to live.
“A note as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
Like pearls and now a silver blade”
They hear the sound of
water as a tinkling sound of running water, they enjoy the deep silence and
quietness of the evening. The water
drops like a pearls on the pool and shines like a silver blade under the moon
light. The poet enjoys to describe the beauty of the autumn evening and the
simple life of the people and the rich beauty of that simple life which
associates with nature.
Poetic Devices
Alliteration:
“But once within the wood, we paused”
“We heard, we knew, we heard the brook”
They add music to the poem
Hyperbole:
“Now drops that floated on the pol
like pearls and now a silver blade”
Water
droplets are compared to pearls and they floated on the pool. In fact pearls can’t float, they sink, and
pearls shines. But poet uses the
comparison to bring out the image of beauty of the evening which shines on the
pool.
Thus the
autumn evening come in front of each readers who enjoy the poem by the skillful
use of language, images and rhyming patterns.
1. Write short note
on Robert frost?
2. Why do the
people go out?
3. What type of evening
is described in the poem?
4. What kind of
images one can enjoy in the poem?
5. Where is the
brook?
6. What is their excuse to go out?
7. Why did they make such excuse?
8. What type of
game they play with the moon?
9. Why did they
stand still?
10. What is look like pearl and silver blade?
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