Good-by and Keep Cold - A poem by Robert Frost

Robert Frost - Good-by and Keep Cold

This saying good-by on the edge of the dark
And the cold to an orchard so young in the bark
Reminds me of all that can happen to harm
An orchard away at the end of the farm
All winter, cut off by a hill from the house.
I don't want it girdled by rabbit and mouse,
I don't want it dreamily nibbled for browse
By deer, and I don't want it budded by grouse.
(If certain it wouldn't be idle to call
I'd summon grouse, rabbit, and deer to the wall
And warn them away with a stick for a gun.)
I don't want it stirred by the heat of the sun.
(We made it secure against being, I hope,
By setting it out on a northerly slope.)
No orchard's the worse for the wintriest storm;
But one thing about it, it mustn't get warm.
'How often already you've had to be told,
Keep cold, young orchard. Good-by and keep cold.
Dread fifty above more than fifty below.'
I have to be gone for a season or so.
My business awhile is with different trees,
less carefully nurtured, less fruitful than these,
And such as is done to their wood with an ax--
Maples and birches and tamaracks.
I wish I could promise to lie in the night
And think of an orchard's arboreal plight
When slowly (and nobody comes with a light)
Its heart sinks lower under the sod.
But something has to be left to God.

Added: on April 7th, 2005 at 12:08 PM | Viewed: 5317 times | Comments and analysis of Good-by and Keep Cold by Robert Frost Comments (4)

Good-by and Keep Cold - Comments and Information
Poet: Robert Frost Poem: 29. Good-by and Keep Cold Volume: New Hampshire Year: Published/Written in 1923 Poem of the Day: Apr 14 2002 Comment 4 of 4, added on May 29th, 2005 at 9:45 PM. I think that Frost is trying to potray a parent and his relationship with his kid. He wants to do all he can to keep them from being hurt and killed in the real world but there is only so much he can do. Being away for a season or two may refer to when his child goes off on his own and has to take care of himself before he comes back DeAnna from United States Comment 3 of 4, added on April 7th, 2005 at 12:08 PM. I'm Back. Upon even further research, this poem was written in 1919 according to Peter Gilbert at www.frostfiends.org and published in 1920 in Harper's Bazaar Magazine. Frost wrote this poem while living in Franconia, New Hampshire. A very article by Peter Gilbert about robert Frost is found at the above website. Celia Stockton from United States Comment 2 of 4, added on April 7th, 2005 at 12:08 PM. Hello again. My humblist apologies to the reader. Frost wrote this poem when he was 59 NOT age 12. I must have glanced down at another date. Regardless, Good-By and Keep Cold is a very nice work of Frost and I have enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the poem. I hope others will take a moment and do likewise. Celia Stockton from United States More Comments >> Are you looking for more information on this poem? Perhaps you are trying to analyze it? The poem, Good-by and Keep Cold, has received 4 comments. Click here to read them, and perhaps post a comment of your own. Of course you can also always discuss poems by Robert Frost with others on the American Poems poetry forum!

Poem Info
Poet: Robert Frost Poem: 29. Good-by and Keep Cold Volume: New Hampshire Year: Published/Written in 1923 Last read: Jul 25 2008, 2:26PM Poem of the Day: Apr 14 2002 Viewed 5317 times. Added on April 7th, 2005 at 12:08 PM.

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