Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry: Explained, ROBERT FROST TO EZRA POUND'S DAUGHTER FROM HIS DEATHBED, by GIBBONS RUARK

Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

ROBERT FROST TO EZRA POUND'S DAUGHTER FROM HIS DEATHBED, by GIBBONS RUARK

In Gibbons Ruark's "Robert Frost to Ezra Pound's Daughter From His Deathbed," the speaker channels the voice of Robert Frost, one of America's most celebrated poets, reflecting on his friendship with Ezra Pound from his deathbed. The poem is a poignant meditation on love, memory, and the passing of time, all woven through a lens of deep humanity. The poem serves as a fictional letter from Frost to Pound's daughter, evoking a sense of urgency and finality as he nears the end of his life.

"Love is all. I tremble with it. Romantic love as in stones and poems. I'd like to see Ezra again," the speaker starts, immediately capturing the reader's attention with the elemental force of love, so powerful that it makes him tremble. It's worth noting the "stones and poems" line. The speaker corrects himself in the following lines, saying, "Did I say stones? My mind said stories," drawing attention to the slip between mind and tongue, a hint at the frailty of his human condition at this stage of life.

The line, "Goes without saying I am gone," introduces the idea of impending mortality with an almost resigned tone. Yet, there is a lingering need to reconnect with the past and a lost friend: "I'd like to see Ezra. Again." This refrain recurs throughout the poem, underscoring the importance of their friendship and shared history.

The line, "The years, the years rattle my spine," poignantly encapsulates the speaker's physical and emotional weariness. Yet he continues to question the nature of love: "How often must I not know what Love is?" This rhetorical question emphasizes the idea that the complexity of love can never be fully understood, not even in a lifetime.

The imagery of "Rummages these old bones, scattering Breath like the silvered leaves of birches" conveys the way love can disorient or stir the speaker, even as he faces his mortality. The phrase "silvered leaves of birches" might be a subtle homage to Frost's own work, which frequently includes natural imagery, particularly of birch trees.

The line, "His crazed head haunts me like a cloud," serves as a testament to the enduring impact of their friendship, despite the complexities and perhaps disagreements that might have occurred over the years. The term "crazed head" suggests a sense of conflicted emotion, perhaps mirroring Pound's own controversial life and views, which were often met with criticism.

Finally, the speaker returns to the theme of love, "All the dark certainties tell me Love is all." As he approaches death, the uncertainties and complexities resolve into a fundamental truth, that love is the crux of all human experiences. "I'd like to see Ezra again," he repeats one last time, a final plea to revisit the past, to reconnect with an old friend, and to confront the unfinished emotional business that weighs on him.

The poem serves as an emotive tribute not only to the imagined feelings of Robert Frost but also as a reflection on the universal themes of friendship, love, and mortality. It dives deep into the human psyche, exploring the ineffable qualities of emotions that we carry with us, even to the very end.

POEM TEXT:

Love is all. I tremble with it.

Romantic love as in stones and poems.

I'd like to see Ezra again.

Did I say stones? My mind said stories

And my tremulous tongue said stones.

Love is all I tremble with. It

Goes without saying I am gone.

Before I go for good I'll say

I'd like to see Ezra. Again

The years, the years rattle my spine.

How often must I not know what