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The Last Mowing
There's a place called Far-away Meadow
We never shall mow in again,
Or such is the talk at the farmhouse:
The meadow is finished with men.
Then now is the chance for the flowers
That can't stand mowers and plowers.
It must be now, through, in season
Before the not mowing brings trees on,
Before trees, seeing the opening,
March into a shadowy claim.
The trees are all I'm afraid of,
That flowers can't bloom in the shade of;
It's no more men I'm afraid of;
The meadow is done with the tame.
The place for the moment is ours
For you, oh tumultuous flowers,
To go to waste and go wild in,
All shapes and colors of flowers,
I needn't call you by name.
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| The Last Mowing |
Summary and Analysis
Introduction:
The Last Mowing by Robert Frost from West-Running Brook is similar to Tree at My Window. The poet in this poem dissociates himself from other human beings and shows a preference for one aspect of nature, i.e., the wild flowers.
Summary:
The poem describes a meadow which is being quiet by human beings and which is going to be left to wild flowers "tumultuous... all shapes... all colors". They may grow as long as there are no "mowers and plowers". However, the flowers will grow only if the trees do not claim the meadow. Flowers cannot bloom in the trees' shade. The poet is now more afraid of trees than of men in hindering the growth of wild flowers. The meadow has no longer anything to do with "the tame". The poet welcomes the wild flowers - which can "go to waste and so wild" in this meadow.
Critical Analysis:
The Last Mowing is a symbolic lyric stating explicitly Frost's predicament. It shows a gentle and melancholy abandonment to chaos. Humanity has gone, and weeds and wilderness come back. Nature is detached from human beings.