Misgiving
Misgiving - context Summary
Published in 1916
Published in 1916 in the collection Mountain Interval, Robert Frost’s "Misgiving" uses the image of leaves summoned by the wind to stage a quiet meditation on freedom and the pull of rest. In the poem the foliage initially seems eager to follow the wind but gradually grows drowsy and reluctant, ending close to where it began. The speaker watches this and expresses a personal hope that, if he ever attains the same freedom to seek what lies beyond life, he will not find the repose of settling too soon more tempting than further questing.
Read Complete AnalysesAll crying, ‘We will go with you, O Wind!’ The foliage follow him, leaf and stem; But a sleep oppresses them as they go, And they end by bidding them as they go, And they end by bidding him stay with them. Since ever they flung abroad in spring The leaves had promised themselves this flight, Who now would fain seek sheltering wall, Or thicket, or hollow place for the night. And now they answer his summoning blast With an ever vaguer and vaguer stir, Or at utmost a little reluctant whirl That drops them no further than where they were. I only hope that when I am free As they are free to go in quest Of the knowledge beyond the bounds of life It may not seem better to me to rest.
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