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Skeptic
Far star that tickles for me my sensitive plate
And fries a couple of ebon atoms white,
I don't believe I believe a thing you state.
I put no faith in the seeming facts of light.
I don't believe I believe you're the last in space,
I don't believe you're anywhere near the last,
I don't believe what makes you red in the face
Is after explosion going away so fast.
The universe may or may not be very immense.
As a matter of fact there are times when I am apt
To feel it close in tight against my sense
Like a caul in which I was born and still am wrapped.
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| Skeptic |
Summer and Analysis
Introduction:
The poem Skeptic from Steeple Bush, Frost seems to be saying that he follows no fixed belief but lives by one provisional belief after another. Fluctuating thought pattern regard of celestial object (star), occurred in poet's mind.
Summary:
The poet addresses a distant star that he does not believe what it appears to tell him about itself. He does not believe that it is the last or somewhere near the last star in space. Nor does he believe that it goes red in colour because of its speed after an explosion. Frost goes on to declare that the universe 'may or may not be immense'; there are times when he feels suffocated in this universe. The universe at times feels so close and oppressive that he feels like an infant wrapped in a membrane in his mother's womb.
Critical Analysis:
The last stanza gives a pessimistic ring to this poem. There is no elation. What began in a seemingly light vein with the poet's rejection of apparent truths and possibilities leads on to the feeling of pain and oppression. Whether pessimistic or not, it is a feeling we all experience at one time or the other - that the universe is too much for us.