To Ridgely Torrence
On Last Looking into His ‘Hesperides’

I often see flowers from a passing car
That are gone before I can tell what they are.

I want to get out of the train and go back
To see what they were beside the track.

I name all the flowers I am sure they weren’t;
Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt–

Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth–
Not lupine living on sand and drouth.

Was something brushed across my mind
That no one on earth will ever find?

Heaven gives it glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem A Passing Glimpse

25 Comments

  1. Amelia Hardwood says:

    I love this poem!
    It is my favourite and my daughter loves it too!

  2. Amritakripa Minimenon says:

    In this poem, Robert Frost explores, among other things, the theme of the amazing beauty of nature. The title mentions the idea of time quickly passing by. In the work, the poet expresses a desire to return, to go back in his life and look closer to a flower he once saw as he quickly passed by. The flower probably is a symbol for a beautiful moment in life that he feels he was not able to fully appreciate at the time. It may be a moment in his past to which he would now like to return but knows he can not. He wonders whether all beautiful things are given only to those who can not come close enough to appreciate them fully. The voyage in this poem is to one’s past and it really takes place in the mind. This poem is dedicated to Frost’s friend Ridgely Torrence.

  3. apsara pokharel says:

    this poem is very nice poem. when i read this poem first tears were trickled from my eyes. in the remebrance of his best friend he had dedicated this poem to his dead friend. if we try to understand this poem from our heart then we feel happy and sad as well. i

  4. ishan says:

    A very nice poem telling us about our own lives. Robert Lee Frost was a name which will always be remembered in English Literature.

  5. Mel says:

    I think his poem talks about how the first impression of something that’s attractive is usually over-glorified and inaccurate, but if we leave our impression as-is, then we can be left with that sense of beauty. However, once we look deep enough, we can soon notice the flaws and forget the beauty which we once saw was. So question is, should we enjoy things the way they are? Or should we go back to critique, only to be disappointed because nothing is perfect?

  6. Monica says:

    We are assesing this poem at school; my teacher read it out to us and told us it sounded like the train tracks 🙂

  7. Kim says:

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought of love when I read this poem.

  8. luis ramos says:

    te mando este poema para desirte gue te guiero mucho con todo mi corazon y espero gue tu tanbien me guieras loi mismo

  9. Jess says:

    this is a great poem. I sugesst it for young readers. I do Not sugest this website though. Ever since i sent this poem to my friends, they all have gotten countless spam, we are sure it was from here. DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE!

  10. NaDiN R. says:

    i think this poem is great .. i think Robert Frost is trying to tell us how much you should be greatfull of wht u have because you can lose them anytime.. and later you’d wish you could go back..

  11. Kimberly k says:

    I think this poe is talking about how Robert Frost wants to go back in time and see how his children and his wife were befor they died.I think in his last phrase of the poem he is saying that people doin’t appresate thier loved ones untill they are gone. and we only get glipses of what they were like becasue it would be to paiful to get anything more.

    • Is jy vreemd says:

      I agree! Wait…
      This comment was made like 15 years ago…
      Woah
      This www made before I was born

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