The Secret Sits -- Robert Frost

(Poem #681) The Secret Sits We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows. -- Robert Frost

First published in "A Witness Tree", 1942.

It's tempting to assume that this pithy, aphoristic couplet embodies Frost's
view of poetry and the poetic process (both composition and interpretation).
It's especially tempting when you consider that Frost's own poetry is
celebrated for its "wonderful ability to pack layer after layer of meaning
and imagery into a few words" [1] - and that he was loth to favour any
particular interpretation thereof over any other [2].

Tempting, perhaps, but not necessarily true. Which (in a marvellous twist of
self-reference) makes it equally plausible that what is being referred to is
the poem itself; it's certainly impenetrable enough in its own way... wheels
within wheels within wheels.

thomas.

[1] See Martin's commentary on Frost's "A Patch of Old Snow", poem #336

[2] See the anecdote accompanying "The Need of Being Versed in Country
Things", poem #170

[Minstrels Links]

Frost has featured on the Minstrels before, but not to the extent that one
might have expected (and not at all in the last year or so).

Poem #155, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", is a classic, and one of
those poems which _everyone_ knows and loves.

Poem #51, "The Road Not Taken", is on one of our favourite themes. The
accompanying commentary has a biography, critical assessment, and two
interesting essays on Frost's use of deceptively simple language to drive
home what are often fairly complex thoughts and emotions.

Both of these, plus the poems mentioned in the footnotes above, plus many
many more, are available on the Minstrels website,
[broken link] http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/index_poet.html

[EndNote]

Robert Frost died on the 29th of January, 1963. No, I wasn't aware of the
coincidence when I chose today's poem.