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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010Frost: gone
Hello: Is "gone" in: "These things the mind has pondered on A moment and still asking gone" something used for the necessities of rhyme, with the expanded version being: "These things the mind has pondered on A moment and [the] asking [is still going]?" --- All Revelation A head thrusts in as for the view, But where it is it thrusts in from Or what it is it thrusts into By that Cyb'laean avenue, And what can of its coming come, And whither it will be withdrawn, And what take hence or leave behind, These things the mind has pondered on A moment and still asking gone. Strange apparition of the mind! ... Robert Frost, p. 332 http://www.roadsnottaken.com/autumnleavesbrown/robfrostpoems.html#allrevelation --- Thanks. Marius Hancu > Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > Thanks. > Marius Hancu I think it means that the mind pondered on for a moment, and then, still asking, the mind left (was gone) The mind/head comes from somewhere (we don't know where), goes (we don't know where), and asks questions about the whole process and its consequences ('And what can of its coming come?') even as it leaves.  SignatureCheryl > Is "gone" > in: [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > "These things the mind has pondered on > A moment and [the] asking [is still going]?" The moment, and probably the mind too, are gone, while the mind is still asking. "A moment" is God's way of looking at it. It recalls the lines from the hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past": A thousand ages in Thy sight Are like a moment gone, Short as the watch that ends the night Before the rising sun. http://www.bartleby.com/45/2/104.html As noted at the site, the hymn is based on the Ninetieth Psalm: 4For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. I find that interesting because, before looking it up, I wrote out the lines of the hymn, remembering them as "are but a moment gone", which is the KJV's choice of word for the psalm. In spite of the biblical reference, the God of the poem is not only the Abrahamic God, as the word "Cyb'laean" makes clear. Cybele was the earth-goddess, the Mountain Mother, the Mistress of Beasts. Frost gets his revelations from Nature. > --- > All Revelation [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > http://www.roadsnottaken.com/autumnleavesbrown/robfrostpoems.html#allrevelation > --- > > Is "gone" > > in: [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Short as the watch that ends the night > Before the rising sun. Interesting. > http://www.bartleby.com/45/2/104.html > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > A moment and still asking gone. > > Strange apparition of the mind! Thanks you both. Marius Hancu >> Is "gone" >> in: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > The moment, and probably the mind too, are gone, while the mind is still > asking. Agreed, but more specifically I read it as: The mind (a human mind) has pondered on these things [for] a moment, and asking still (i.e., while still asking; without having quite finished formulating the questions much less finding answers), [the mind has] gone (i.e., ceased to be). > "A moment" is God's way of looking at it. It recalls the lines > from the hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past": [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > lines of the hymn, remembering them as "are but a moment gone", which is > the KJV's choice of word for the psalm. It could be intended to refer to that psalm or Watts paraphrase, but it could also be just a general reference to the fleeting nature of human existence. > In spite of the biblical reference, the God of the poem is not only the > Abrahamic God, as the word "Cyb'laean" makes clear. Cybele was the [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >> http://www.roadsnottaken.com/autumnleavesbrown/robfrostpoems.html#allrevelation >> --- SignatureRoland Hutchinson He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba," ... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy. --Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ ) >>> Is "gone" >>> in: [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > quite finished formulating the questions much less finding > answers), [the mind has] gone (i.e., ceased to be). I agree that that meaning is intended. My reason for thinking Frost also meant the fleeting moment is the echo of the hymn, which I think he also intended. >> "A moment" is God's way of looking at it. It recalls the lines >> from the hymn "O God Our Help in Ages Past": [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >> 4For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is >> past, and as a watch in the night. [...] >> In spite of the biblical reference, the God of the poem is not >> only the Abrahamic God, as the word "Cyb'laean" makes clear. >> Cybele was the earth-goddess, the Mountain Mother, the Mistress of >> Beasts. Frost gets his revelations from Nature. >>> --- I've been thinking about the apostrophe in "Cyb'laean". Maybe the unusual form, besides making the line scan, is intended to hint at "Sybilline". The Delphic Sibyl belonged to the Earth, before the sun-god took her over, and I think most of the others did too. Being possessed by the god, a sybil is a good example of Revelation. Hey, while I'm on my feet, maybe even "sublime" too. >>> All Revelation >>> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > robfrostpoems.html#allrevelation >>> --- > The moment, and probably the mind too, are gone, while the mind is > still asking. "A moment" is God's way of looking at it. It recalls [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Short as the watch that ends the night > Before the rising sun. This sounds like a pretty boring way to live, but for an immortal god it's a survival mechanism. If you took the time to watch every sparrow fall you'd go insane. Admittedly, some have claimed that only an insane god could have dreamed up the sort of universe we now have. SignaturePeter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org For an e-mail address, see my web page. |
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