One of my favorite bits of sensuousness comes from a somewhat unexpected place: Robert Frost. It is easy to think of him as old and grizzled with the chill of snows in New England, but I suspect Bobby may have had a past of doing more interesting things out of doors than building walls or driving horses.
I crave the stain
of tears, the aftermark
of almost too much love,
The sweet of bitter bark
And burning clove.
When stiff and sore and scarred
I take away my hand
From leaning on it hard
In grass and sand,
The hurt is not enough:
I long for weight and strength
To feel the earth as rough
To all my length.
For undying true love that always promises to return, then my favorite is 10,000 Miles.
Fare thee well
My own true love
Farewell for a while
Im going away
But Ill be back
Though I go 10,000 miles
10,000 miles
My own true love
10,000 miles or more
The rocks may melt
And the seas may burn
If I should not return
Oh dont you see
That lonesome dove
Sitting on an ivy tree
Shes weeping for
Her own true love
As I shall weep for mine
Oh come ye back
My own true love
And stay a while with me
If I had a friend
All on this earth
Youve been a friend to me.
8 comments:
Wow. I've read quite a bit of Frost but never came across that one. I'm gonna have to go on a looksee!!
"10000 Miles" interests me because it's quite a common motif in folk music (the variant that comes immediately to mind is Doc Watson's "A-Rovin' on a Winter's Night") and it, along with "the rocks all melt(ing) in the sun" turn up, if I remember correctly, in one of Robert Burns's poems.
As for phantom lovers--you knew I'd have that angle covered! ;)
Lovely choice! I have to keep thinking.
The poem is "To Earthward" and starts: "Love at the lips was touch as sweet as I could bear; and once that seemed too much: I lived on air."
Also known in choral circles as "Turtle Dove"....one of my favorites. I've not heard this version. Beautiful. I'm so glad I stopped in today.
I listened.
I cried.
Frost was a genius. "the aftermark
of almost too much love"...
Frost is a favorite of mine too.
Frost is my favorite poet, but I don't know that one! Now you have sent me to the bookshelf, Jamie! I won't get another darned thing done today.
Ah, Robert Frost. I think I need to go in search of his homestead one of these days - I'm pretty sure it's in Massachusetts somewhere along with the homesteads of so many other major American literary figures. Might make for a nice tour of sorts one day to go hit several of them in one journey. Amanda would be bored to tears, except perhaps at Louisa May Alcott's home - so perhaps it's something I'll do on my own.
I had a little trouble with this week's prompt but did the best I could - motivated by Fairweather's post on her blog! I am just so much better at losing love than at having it return ...
How did I miss commenting on your "Take This Tune" post, Jamie? I love the song "10,000 miles." :)
I wanted to tell you about a Birth Year Reading Challenge you might like. I joined. It's here :)
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