THE STAR SPLITTER (Excerpt)
by Robert Frost
“You know Orion always comes up sideways.
Throwing a leg up over our fence of mountains,
And rising on his hands, he looks in on me
Busy outdoors by lantern-light with something
I should have done by daylight, and indeed,
After the ground is frozen, I should have done
Before it froze, and a gust flings a handful
Of waste leaves at my smoky lantern chimney
To make fun of my way of doing things,
Or else fun of Orion’s having caught me.
Has a man, I should like to ask, no rights
These forces are obliged to pay respect to?”
So Brad McLaughlin mingled reckless talk
Of heavenly stars with hugger-mugger farming,
Till having failed at hugger-mugger farming,
He burned his house down for the fire insurance
And spent the proceeds on a telescope
To satisfy a lifelong curiosity
About our place among the infinities…
…Read “The Star Splitter” by Robert Frost in its entirety at poetryfoundation.org.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963) was one of the most popular and critically respected American poets of the twentieth century. He received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 for his poetical works. (Read more at wikipedia.org.)
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