Frost: to have you come

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Marius Hancu - 27 Feb 2010 09:37 GMT

Hello:

Several items:

1. Any difference in meaning between
"how glad I was
To have you come"
and
"how glad I was of your coming?"

2. "You take"
in
"You take the lake."
means "for example," right?

3. Is "should"
in
"I shouldn't like it"
considered old-fashioned or stylish _in AmE_ in comparison with "I
wouldn't like it?"

4. "weren't snatched away"
means
"weren't snatched away [as a result of my thinking]?"

-----
A Servant to Servants

I didn't make you know how glad I was
To have you come and camp here on our land.
...
You take the lake. I look and look at it.
...
[Thinking of the campers/botanists]
I almost think if I could do like you,
Drop everything and live out on the ground--
But it might be, come night, I shouldn't like it,
Or a long rain.
...
I've lain awake thinking of you, I'll warrant,
More than you have yourself, some of these nights.
The wonder was the tents weren't snatched away
From over you as you lay in your beds.

Robert Frost, p. 62
http://www.ketzle.com/frost/servant.html
-----

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 27 Feb 2010 12:51 GMT

>Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>"You take the lake."
>means "for example," right?

Yes. "Take <something>" is a very common way of saying "Consider
<something> (for example)". The "You" at the start is a bit unusual to
me. I think it would not normally be used in prose.

>3. Is "should"
>in
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>means
>"weren't snatched away [as a result of my thinking]?"

I don't think so. It seems to be literal. There is a risk that the tents
might be stolen from over them while they were sleeping in them.

The wonder was the tents weren't snatched away
From over you as you lay in your beds.
I haven't courage for a risk like that.

>-----
>A Servant to Servants
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>Thanks.
>Marius Hancu

Signature

Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Cheryl - 27 Feb 2010 12:55 GMT

> Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> and
> "how glad I was of your coming?"

Not much difference. Perhaps 'have you come' implies he invited them,
while 'of your coming' implies they just showed up.

> 2. "You take"
> in
> "You take the lake."
> means "for example," right?

Yes

> 3. Is "should"
> in
> "I shouldn't like it"
> considered old-fashioned or stylish _in AmE_ in comparison with "I
> wouldn't like it?"

I think so. It's easily understandable - 'it might be...I shouldn't
like", but not used much now in North America as far as I know.

> 4. "weren't snatched away"
> means
> "weren't snatched away [as a result of my thinking]?"

I don't think so. Reading the rest of the poem, it looks like she's
trying to talk herself out of her wish to 'Drop everything and live out
on the ground' - and she's grateful for a solid roof in the night and
rain. So I think it means that while she has a solid roof, they might
have their tents blown away in a storm.

> -----
> A Servant to Servants
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> Thanks.
> Marius Hancu

Signature

Cheryl

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Marius Hancu - 27 Feb 2010 16:02 GMT

> > Several items:
>
[quoted text clipped - 50 lines]
> > The wonder was the tents weren't snatched away
> > From over you as you lay in your beds.

Thank you all.
Marius Hancu

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CDB - 27 Feb 2010 13:12 GMT

Marius Hancu wrote::

> Several items:
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> and
> "how glad I was of your coming?"

A difference in tone, an implication that they were there by
invitation. "To have you come" is reminiscent of polite formulas like
"Thank you for having me". Didn't the enlightened Eliza Doolittle
sing "How kind of you to have me come"? Yes. At about 1:48 here,
where you can also learn how to say "the rain in Spain stays mainly in
the plain" as the Spanish do:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiOK_bF0saA

> 2. "You take"
> in
> "You take the lake."
> means "for example," right?

Yes. I resist the thought that Frost or his character was thinking,
"Now, take my wife."

> 3. Is "should"
> in
> "I shouldn't like it"
> considered old-fashioned or stylish _in AmE_ in comparison with "I
> wouldn't like it?"

Could be old-fashioned, or a localism. There are New Englanders here
who may be able to say. The lines are in the informal speech of a
character who seems pretty working-class. It might also be Frost's
own choice of words.

> 4. "weren't snatched away"
> means
> "weren't snatched away [as a result of my thinking]?"

By the wind, I would say. She talks about bad weather in the part
before the quoted lines. But the speaker is disordered in her mind,
so maybe you're right.

> -----
> A Servant to Servants
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> http://www.ketzle.com/frost/servant.html
> -----

Reply to this Message

Glenn Knickerbocker - 27 Feb 2010 17:46 GMT

>2. "You take"
>in
>"You take the lake."
>means "for example," right?

I think there may be a hint of double meaning here, suggesting also "you
take the lake as your own."

>3. Is "should"
>in
>"I shouldn't like it"
>considered old-fashioned or stylish _in AmE_ in comparison with "I
>wouldn't like it?"

Probably not yet at the time of this poem (1915). It seems fairly common
to me in movies from before WWII.

¬R . o O http://users.bestweb.net/~notr/hubble.html
"Never bring a banjo to a piano fight." --Dr. HotSalt

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Marius Hancu - 27 Feb 2010 19:02 GMT

> >2. "You take"
> >in
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> I think there may be a hint of double meaning here, suggesting also "you
> take the lake as your own."

There might indeed one in the context of this poem.

> >3. Is "should"
> >in
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Probably not yet at the time of this poem (1915). It seems fairly common
> to me in movies from before WWII.

Thanks for pointing that out.
Marius Hancu

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010

Frost: to have you come