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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Frost: upon themselves
Hello: I'm confused by "upon themselves" in "They click upon themselves" could this mean that "to click" is not "to sound with a click" but "to fit exactly [upon each other]"? "Kicking his way through the air" does it mean "kicking in/while going through the air?" In: --- Birches ... Often you must have seen them Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. .... Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. Robert Frost, p. 121 http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15729 --- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu Robert Frost: >> Often you must have seen them >> Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning >> After a rain. They click upon themselves >> As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored >> As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. Marius Hancu: > I'm confused by "upon themselves" in > "They click upon themselves" They bump into each other with a click. >> Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, >> Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. > "Kicking his way through the air" > does it mean > "kicking in/while going through the air?" Yes.  SignatureMark Brader, Toronto | "I like the other Bobs. Now, if I can only msb@vex.net | recall which Mark I hate." --Al Fargnoli > >> Often you must have seen them > >> Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning > >> After a rain. They click upon themselves > >> As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored > >> As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. > > I'm confused by "upon themselves" in > > "They click upon themselves" > > They bump into each other with a click. > >> Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, > >> Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Yes. Thank you both. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored >As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. I think that "click" refers to the sound made when branches or twigs touch one another when a breeze blows. Because they are covered in ice they are rigid. The sound is that of the icy coating of one twig or branch touching the icy coating of another. This icy coating is described as enamel. >.... One by one he subdued his father's trees By riding them down over and over again Until he took the stiffness out of them, .... Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. >Robert Frost, p. 121 >http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15729 >--- "riding them down" suggests that he was touching the parts of the tree on the way down. If so, it suggests that he launched himself into the air from high in the tree and then slowed his fall by putting one foor on a branch and then the next foot on a lower one and so on. It was a controlled fall through the branches. Another way to describe it is that he was jumping down from branch to branch but not ever stopping in a balanced position on a branch. In fact the branches may have been too weak to support his strength. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) On Feb 24, 4:16 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote: > On Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:45:09 -0800 (PST), Marius Hancu > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >--- > >Birches Is that better than that "Stars" poem, or what? > >... > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > branch touching the icy coating of another. This icy coating is > described as enamel.>.... Agreed. > One by one he subdued his father's trees > By riding them down over and over again > Until he took the stiffness out of them, > .... > Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, > Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. Famous example of rhythm that goes with the sense. > >Robert Frost, p. 121 > >http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15729 [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > balanced position on a branch. In fact the branches may have been too > weak to support his strength. It's clear from the rest of the poem that the boy's launching himself while holding the top and letting the elasticity of the trunk slow him as he falls, making kicking motions while going through the air. Enough repetitions bend the trees permanently. (In the speaker's imagination. In "fact", the trees have been bent by snow and ice.) -- Jerry Friedman could do worse. >It's clear from the rest of the poem that the boy's launching himself >while holding the top and letting the elasticity of the trunk slow him >as he falls, making kicking motions while going through the air. >Enough repetitions bend the trees permanently. (In the speaker's >imagination. In "fact", the trees have been bent by snow and ice.) Ah, right. I didn't read the full poem. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > On Feb 24, 4:16 pm, "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <m...@peterduncanson.net> > wrote: > > >I'm confused by "upon themselves" in > > >"They click upon themselves" [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Is that better than that "Stars" poem, or what? Of course. Frost is quite a surprise for me in many respects. > > >... > [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > while holding the top and letting the elasticity of the trunk slow him > as he falls, making kicking motions while going through the air. That's what I wanted confirmed. > Enough repetitions bend the trees permanently. (In the speaker's > imagination. In "fact", the trees have been bent by snow and ice.) Thank you all. Marius Hancu >> [...] > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >>> ... [...] >> One by one he subdued his father's trees >> By riding them down over and over again [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > (In the speaker's imagination. In "fact", the trees have been bent > by snow and ice.) My father, who spent his boyhood in Vermont, told me that he used to bend birches. He said the woods around his neighbourhood were full of trees bent to the ground by his efforts and those of others. He "kick[ed] his way down" in air, because the vigorous repeated tugs would break the tree out of its stiffness and make it bend quickly. If he had hung quietly, the tree would have taken a long time about it. >>> [...] >> [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > If he had hung quietly, the tree would have taken a long time about > it. I first met the poem in a nice short film in which the poem was read, and we saw a boy actually doing it. It may be on YT. SignatureMike. On Feb 27, 3:55 pm, "Mike Lyle" <mike_lyle...@REMOVETHISyahoo.co.uk> wrote: ... > > My father, who spent his boyhood in Vermont, told me that he used to > > bend birches. He said the woods around his neighbourhood were full of [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > I first met the poem in a nice short film in which the poem was read, > and we saw a boy actually doing it. It may be on YT. Couldn't find it, but there's RLF himself reading it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGSxVTtGVAA and various amateur efforts, including a musical version, rather proggish, but I stopped at "But swingin' don't bend them down to stay." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYbsbpn-2UA There are also a couple videos of fairly big boys repeating the feat or trying to. The trees seemed to bend pretty well without kicking. -- Jerry Friedman > "riding them down" suggests that he was touching the parts of the tree > on the way down. If so, it suggests that he launched himself into the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > balanced position on a branch. In fact the branches may have been too > weak to support his strength. Someone's been watching _Avatar_. SignaturePeter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org For an e-mail address, see my web page. In article <ea7f5b61-69b6-443b-b656-d2e0fe5f2cf2@j27g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>, > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored > As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. If they're ice-covered, movement would crack the ice, making a clicking sound > .... > > Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, > Kicking his way down through the air to the ground. I always read that as climbing until the tree bent, then "riding" it down. SignatureErilar, biblioholic medievalist http://www.mosaictelecom.com/~erilarlo |
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