 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Frost: For whom these lines
Hello: My reading of the last two lines takes into account the "I dream upon" theme: "[I dream] on the memory of one absent most, For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye." BTW, my volume has a comma in front of "most." Now, my question is: the last line _is not_ "For whom these lines [are (dedicated)/are (written)] when they shall greet her eye." I'm pretty sure this is an ellipsis of "are" based on poetical conventions, but am not sure. --- Waiting .... I dream upon the opposing lights of the hour, Preventing shadow until the moon prevail; I dream upon the night-hawks peopling heaven, Each circling each with vague unearthly cry, ... But on the memory of one absent most, For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye. Robert Frost, p. 15 http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/291/ --- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > BTW, my volume has a comma in front of "most." I'm not sure what that would be doing there. > Now, my question is: > the last line _is not_ [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I'm pretty sure this is an ellipsis of "are" based on poetical > conventions, but am not sure. Yep. These lines are for her. > --- > Waiting [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Robert Frost, p. 15 > http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/291/ -- Jerry Friedman > > My reading of the last two lines takes into account the "I dream upon" > > theme: [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > I'm not sure what that would be doing there. Well: "[I dream] on the memory of one absent most" means to me: "[I dream] on the memory of one who is most [of the time] absent" while: "[I dream] on the memory of one absent, most" means to me: "I, most of the time, [dream] on the memory of one absent" > > Now, my question is: > > the last line _is not_ [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Yep. These lines are for her. Any other similar devices hiding a dedication? Didn't seem grammatically obvious to me, so I'd like to be warned:-) > > --- > > Waiting > > I dream upon the opposing lights of the hour, > > Preventing shadow until the moon prevail; [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > But on the memory of one absent most, > > For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye Thank you. Marius Hancu >> Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > > Yep. These lines are for her. Agreed; but, with "when", it must mean "to whom I give these lines", rather than "to/for whom these lines are dedicated/intended." It's something that happens when she sees them, not when he writes them. >> --- >> Waiting [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >> Robert Frost, p. 15 >> http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/291/ > >> My reading of the last two lines takes into account the "I dream > >> upon" theme: [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > rather than "to/for whom these lines are dedicated/intended." It's > something that happens when she sees them, not when he writes them. All right. But is this a clear ellipsis? Or just a poetical convention? Because, sorry, I don't see it. > >> --- > >> Waiting [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > >> But on the memory of one absent most, > >> For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye. Thank you all. Marius Hancu >>>> My reading of the last two lines takes into account the "I dream >>>> upon" theme: [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] >>>> But on the memory of one absent most, >>>> For whom these lines when they shall greet her eye. Literally, it's "for whom these lines are", but it suggests the simple form for gift-giving, "This is for you." I would put a comma after "lines", but I'm not a great poet.. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.