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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Frost: but that some day
Hello: In: --- One of my wishes is that those dark trees, So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze, Were not, as 'twere, the merest mask of gloom, But stretched away unto th eedge of doom. I should not be withheld but that some day Into their vastness I should steal away Robert Frost, Into My Own, p. 5 http://poems.writers-network.com/robert-frost/into-my-own.html --- would you say that "that" is grouped with " but" in a "but that" construct or with "some day" meaning "that remote day"? -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > would you say that "that" is grouped with " but" in a "but that" > construct or with "some day" meaning "that remote day"? Try: > One of my wishes is that [...] some day > Into their vastness I should steal away  SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu I would say "that some day" - at some point in the future, he will not be stopped from stealing away into the vastness of the forest. Or from proceeding into whatever the forest represents. The afterlife, perhaps? SignatureCheryl > > --- > > One of my wishes is that those dark trees, [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > I would say "that some day" - at some point in the future, he will not > be stopped from stealing away into the vastness of the forest. That was my main reading too. > Or from proceeding into whatever the forest represents. The afterlife, > perhaps? Thank you both. Marius Hancu > > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > Or from proceeding into whatever the forest represents. The afterlife, > perhaps? Or just death? Maybe compare the better-known "Come In". http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/690 And for the imagery of going on forever, the dedication to "A Further Range". http://books.google.com/books?id=KtComZirYE4C&pg=PA557&lpg=PA557#v=onepage&q=&f=false -- Jerry Friedman >>> Hello: >>> In: [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > -- > Jerry Friedman I didn't see the last one. But, yes, it could be death. I don't know much about poetry, but I thought an entire forest seems a bit, well, large for something as instantaneous and final as death without an afterlife. About all I can remember about my literature classes is (1) Almost anything can be symbolic of almost anything else, if you can come up with good enough reasons for it (if not, better go with what the teacher says) and (2) Anything in Canadian literature involving snow is talking about death. SignatureCheryl > In: > --- [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > would you say that "that" is grouped with " but" in a "but that" > construct or with "some day" meaning "that remote day"? I would read it both ways. Good catch. I don't think "some" suggests remoteness so much as potentiality. The other possibility would be "I should not be withheld, but [on] that someday ...". |
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