A Prayer in Spring
By Robert Frost
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.
Summary of A Prayer in Spring
- Popularity of “A Prayer In Spring”: Written by the US iconic poet and legend Robert Frost, this short poem of just four stanzas outlines his main philosophy of looking at nature from a different perspective. The poem first appeared in 1915 when he got published his collection, A Boy’s Will, through Henry Colt. The poem shows the apostrophic use of nature that the poet calls to bless him with pleasure in the time of spring. That is why the poem has won attraction across the globe.
- “A Prayer in Spring” As a Representative of Prayer for Spring: Although the poet has referred to God in the last stanza, it shows that the prayer is addressed to God through an apostrophe. Using apostrophe, the poet prays to God to give him pleasure in the spring and take away the worries of some uncertain harvest. Similarly, he again prays to God to bless him with pleasure like that of the bees involved in harvesting honey from the flowers and trees. The poet, when he sees a hummingbird, prays to God to bless him with the same happiness that the hummingbird and the honey bee get in this spring season. The poet then presents his main idea in the final stanza, showing that it is only love and what happens is just the will of God that we fulfill.
- Major Themes in “A Prayer in Spring”: Divine scheme of things, love, spring, and the love of nature are major themes of this poem. Although the poem does not seem to present that God has a plan for the world, he shows in the last stanza that what he is saying is actually the plan of God and what God wills, it happens in the world as we are merely playthings and fulfill God’s plans. The second thing, however, is love in that what happens in this world is due to love, whether it is the spring season, bee’s honey collection activities, or humming birds’ darting to get honey. All is love, but this is also because of the spring season that spreads love and presents nature to be loved.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in A Prayer in Spring
Robert Frost uses various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.
- Apostrophe: This literary device shows the use of a call to some dead person or some abstract idea. The poem shows the use of an apostrophe, such as “Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /i/ in “Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night” and the sound of /e/ and /o/ in “For this is love and nothing else is love.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r/ and /t/ in “And give us not to think so far away” and the sound of /h/ in “And make us happy in the happy bees.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night”, “The swarm dilating round the perfect trees” and “And make us happy in the darting bird.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the metaphor of the hummingbird, calling it a meteor.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as flowers, harvest, spring, and ghosts to demonstrate seasonal beauty.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Prayer In Spring
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal, poetic, and melodic diction.
- End Rhyme: It means to use verses having matching end words. Robert Frost shows the use of end rhyme, such as day/away and here/year.
- Quatrain: It is a Persian stanza having four verses. The poem shows the use of a quatrain, such as in the first stanza.
- Rhyme Scheme: This poem shows the rhyme scheme of ABAB in all quatrains.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas, with each having four verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows an exciting and happy tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about love.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil
