He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.
The Soldier
Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem The Soldier
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if the upcoming generations will get access to such poems and understand the meaning of it, the world would b in a better place today!
one of the best poems
i have to memorize this poem for a language assignment.
i just want to say that actually UNDERSTANDING a little of what this poem says makes it easier to memorize.
i really like it, i’m glad i chose this one to recite.
didnt at all understand the poem ……
omg i love thiss poem so much it really touches me in the heart. And also Ii really think that it will touch a lot of other peoples to.
this poem really enlightened me. it told how looking too close to things can ruin the picture. sometimes you have to look into the future and live life ahead… sometimes.=]
i loved it!
The Speaker is talking about a fallen soldier. He says that he “is a lance” that now lays on the ground to rust and collect dew. No one looks at this old weapon as important now, although, at its prime, it was very important. Humans seem to look “too near” and not far enough into the future. If they considered the whole sceme of things, they wouldn’t waste lives on something petty like war.
beautiful. only he could write this
He did such a greatjob of writing this poem. I love u Robo!!!!!!!!!!!! You’ll live inside of me forever!!!!!
To some this peom may mean that as human beings we are not yet able to understand all of the world and its dimentions. For other this may mean to them that our knowledge of the earth is not as good as it could be, so we underestimate things. For me this peom just is words. This gives me no feeling one way or anouther about it. I know that some people may disagree with me about this but… I feel nothing out of this
Frost is refering to Man, to the individual soldier, in war and in life. Mans desire to shape the world, to shape his own individual life, to mold the earth, for each human does come into this world to change it in some way, at times in a very violent way. He uses the symbolism of war to represent “man” living and changing his surroundings, and then dying, leaving the outer shell or “casing” but relinquishing the spirit, which soars ever higher.
I hate it!! it is his worst work smuck,
Go Warriors Lax
To me, this poem seems as if it is at once glorifying the soldier as a machine-like weapon, and pointing out the futility of making war, through all time, from lance to missile. It points out we only damage ourselves while engaging in it. I especially love the last three lines, which exults the human ‘spirit’ in the pursuit of something so obviously detrimental, and especially the weapon of the individual soldier who is sacrificed because we ‘look too near.’ Truly touching brilliance at its most polished. It seems to reconcile two seemingly opposing views. I still don’t fully understand every line though…. If I am wrong I would love to be corrected.
To Read Frost and read Sandburg, is like understanding what our world is and is not, in Sandburg we see our own crimes in a little poem called Grass and in this great human being Frost we see the crimes against our brothers who are called soldiers.
To me, this poem seems as if it is at once glorifying the soldier as a machine-like weapon, and pointing out the futility of making war, through all time, from lance to missile. It points out we only damage ourselves while engaging in it. I especially love the last three lines, which exults the human ‘spirit’ in the pursuit of something so obviously detrimental, and especially the weapon of the individual soldier who is sacrificed because we ‘look too near.’ Truly touching brilliance at its most polished. It seems to reconcile two seemingly opposing views. I still don’t fully understand every line though…. If I am wrong I would love to be corrected.
i think it was a great poem
AWESOME ONE OF HIS BEST