Saturday, January 13, 2018

101 Books, Number 66


66: Fall of Frost, 2008,  by Brian Hall (1959–)*

I loved this book by Brian Hall
About that poet (“Mending Wall”)—

The story of old Robert Frost**—
The life we know, the life we’ve lost.

And I had been to many scenes
The novel uses. What it means?

It means that I could then relate—
For places (and there’s no debate)

Are one way we can understand—
The writer, writing. From some land

These artists come. And if we know
The land? The place? Well, we can go

Inside the story in a way
Denied to those who cannot say

That they have seen a farm of Frost—
The broken walls—and what they cost.

And Brian Hall got well inside
The heart and mind of Frost—and tried—

Succeeded!—to elucidate
The work of one we know as great.

*In mid-April 2010, I arranged for Hall to spend a day at Western Reserve Academy, where I was teaching at the time. He visited classes, spoke to the student body. A great thrill for all of us.

** Robert Frost (1874–1963).

No comments:

Post a Comment