I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;
I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan’t be gone long. – You come too.
I’m going out to fetch the little calf
That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan’t be gone long. – You come too.
[Robert Frost, The Pasture, Anthology of Robert Frost’s Poems; New York: Washington Square Press, 1971, p. 15. It’s the first poem in many Frost collections – his invitation to his readers to join him in seeing the wonder that waits just outside the door. Or inside it, for that matter. ]
This isn’t an invitation to a party or a once-in-a-great-while gathering. This is an invitation to come along on the mundane traipsings of daily life, and to help out with the day’s work – lending a hand, or at least providing good company.
Only a select few are asked to come along for these little trips that will add up to a lifetime.
Treasure such invitations, and for God’s sake as well as your own, grab your jacket and go.
I keep coming back to this and reading it. So freeing. Your comments shed such light.
Thanks, Bill! One of my speech professors was a Frost enthusiast, and he recited this poem at the beginning of all his poetry readings. I’ve loved it for years, and it seems to change meaning as I continue to age…peace, Johnna