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To Earthward
Love at the lips was touch
As sweet as I could bear;
And once that seemed too much;
I lived on air
That crossed me from sweet things,
The flow of - was it musk
From hidden grapevine springs
Down hill at dusk?
I had the swirl and ache
From sprays of honeysuckle
That when they're gathered shake
Dew on the knuckle.
I craved strong sweets, but those
Seemed strong when I was young;
The petal of the rose
It was that stung.
Now no joy but lacks salt
That is not dashed with pain
And weariness and fault;
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.
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| To Earthward |
Summary and Analysis
Introduction:
The poem To Earthward by Robert Frost deals with the bitterness and sting of love from New Hampshire. Loving concern toward the beloved loses its strength and reaches at its breaking point for the mulishness in between lovers. The enduring quality of love is lacking from the perspective of love.
Summary:
When the poet was young the rose petal stung. Now every joy is "dashed with pain and weariness and fault". He hungers for "the after mark of almost too much love". Once the poet had found the sweetness of "love at the lips" too much. He had been greeted by "musk from hidden grapevine springs" at dusk. But youth had passed, and now he yearns in vain for "the sweet of bitter bark and burning clove" He wants to feel the earth's roughness against the whole of his body. The poet's meaning is not very clear. We can only say that the poem is a lament over the loss resulting from the passage of youth.
Critical Analysis:
This rather unconventional love poem once again shows Frost's ability to transfigure the smallest of things. There is a mood of intense despondency in the poem, and the poet is inconsolable as he hungers in vain for a feeling of ecstatic kinship with the world. The narrator illustrates a very mild incident between lovers in a significant manner with its bitter dormant intensity.