Once when the snow of the year was beginning to fall,
We stopped by a mountain pasture to say ‘Whose colt?’
A little Morgan had one forefoot on the wall,
The other curled at his breast. He dipped his head
And snorted at us. And then he had to bolt.
We heard the miniature thunder where he fled,
And we saw him, or thought we saw him, dim and grey,
Like a shadow against the curtain of falling flakes.
‘I think the little fellow’s afraid of the snow.
He isn’t winter-broken. It isn’t play
With the little fellow at all. He’s running away.
I doubt if even his mother could tell him, “Sakes,
It’s only weather”. He’d think she didn’t know !
Where is his mother? He can’t be out alone.’
And now he comes again with a clatter of stone
And mounts the wall again with whited eyes
And all his tail that isn’t hair up straight.
He shudders his coat as if to throw off flies.
‘Whoever it is that leaves him out so late,
When other creatures have gone to stall and bin,
Ought to be told to come and take him in.’

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem The Runaway

23 Comments

  1. Annie B. says:

    I don’t know……I have loved this poem ever since I was a child. I have never seen it as anything except a sweet reflection of the poet regarding how the little colt has been left outside in frightful weather (frightful to the colt because it is new ground for him) and that, whoever is responsible for negligently leaving this little creature outside, SHOULD get off their duff and take him in. Why does every poem we write have to have some secret meaning to it? Why can’t we just see if for what it is………..a compassionate caring for the little fellow that has been left outside in the frightful weather. That is the way I see it and, as a child, it always helped me to be more attentive and compassionate about what was going on around me regarding vulnerable creatures.

  2. Trey says:

    I think that someone that he knew ran away from his family and went to live with someone else

  3. monsanto says:

    i dont really understand this poem , maybe i nid to read and read to understand again , whose running ??? thw coLT ??? where it running away ????

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