Choose Something Like a Star by Robert Frost

[kellyrfineman]

Following yesterday's poem selection, A Man Said to the Universe by Stephen Crane, I considered posting something from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass that begins "A child said 'What is the grass?'", but it turns out I posted that as part of this series already, on April 2nd of last year. I toyed with posting a second Crane poem ("In the Desert"),

Comments

[jamarattigan]

Interesting post! Did not know all the backstory behind this poem. :)

[kellyrfineman]

I am a storehouse of worthless knowledge.

[wordsrmylife]

I loved this poem, and I love Randall Thompson's arrangement, too, which I have sung four or five times. I also like to do this poem with Keat's in college classes.

[kellyrfineman]

The first time I posted it on my blog, I did Keats's "Bright Star" first, then Frost's poem. But heck - I've already posted two Keats poems this month, and we aren't even halfway through the month. (That this makes the second Frost poem is of little consequence. I could do a month of Frost and still have poems to talk about left over.)

[kellyrfineman]

"To stay our minds on and be staid" is so lovely.

I love the envelope rhyme at the end: swayed/far/star/staid So cool how he brought it back to something more regulated to "stay" the poem.

[mreader]

As soon as I saw your poem, I knew that I was going to comment and tell you that I sang this as a choral arrangement - and come to read the rest of your post to see that you did too! Cool. Great poem, and it made a great song. I've never forgotten the words, that's for sure.

[kellyrfineman]

That particular choral setting is so marvelous. I know I sang at least one other of the "Frostiana" songs, which didn't impress me quite as much somehow. But the "Say something! and it says, I burn!/but say with what degree of heat. Talk Fahrenheit, talk centigrade" portion of Thompson's setting is magnifecent.

[mlyearofreading]

Turn a phrase, indeed. (And by the way, I vote wholeheartedly for a Frost month next year!!)

Love this pair of "talking to the universe/stars and what they say back" poems!

[kellyrfineman]

Keats's "Bright Star" is also wonderful, and can be found in this post. Now if only I had a clear direction for today. I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants with these posts.