Riders
Riders - context Summary
Published in 1942
"Riders" appears in Robert Frost’s 1942 collection A Witness Tree. Published during a period when Frost was an established, mature poet, the poem uses the extended metaphor of riding to frame human life stages—birth, struggle, and confrontation with uncontrollable forces. Its placement in A Witness Tree aligns it with other late poems that meditate on mortality and agency, offering a compact, reflective piece typical of Frost’s economy and philosophical tone in this phase of his career.
Read Complete AnalysesThe surest thing there is is we are riders, And though none too successful at it, guiders, Through everything presented, land and tide And now the very air, of what we ride. What is this talked-of mystery of birth But being mounted bareback on the earth? We can just see the infant up astride, His small fist buried in the bushy hide. There is our wildest mount- a headless horse. But though it runs unbridled off its course, And all our blandishments would seem defied, We have ideas yet that we haven’t tried.
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