You’ll wait a long, long time for anything much
To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud
And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves.
The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,
Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud.
The planets seem to interfere in their curves
But nothing ever happens, no harm is done.
We may as well go patiently on with our life,
And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun
For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane.
It is true the longest drouth will end in rain,
The longest peace in China will end in strife.
Still it wouldn’t reward the watcher to stay awake
In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break
On his particular time and personal sight.
That calm seems certainly safe to last to-night.
On Looking Up By Chance At The Constellations
Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem On Looking Up By Chance At The Constellations
3 Comments
Leave a Reply
Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding the meaning or the theme of this poem by Robert Frost better? If accepted, your analysis will be added to this page of American Poems. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.
i like this poem too
People always look up to the planets and stars and such as if they’ll see something more than
just clouds and stars and what is actually visible.
Heaven is said to be towards the sky, but it’s not like you can see it. He’s saying to not
waste your time with keeping your head in the clouds, and dwelling on thoughts of
heaven and the future because there’s simply no point in it. You’ll never be able to see heaven
or anything beyond, or see into the future, until it’s actually your time to do, or until the future actually becomes present, so why waste time trying to predict the future, or find heaven?
Live your life for today, and don’t look towards the future, for you have
a long time to live before you’ll find out what lies beyond death.
I like this poem alot.