I wonder about the trees. Why do we wish to bear [Forever]1 the noise of these More than another noise So close to our dwelling place? We suffer them by [the]1 day Till we lose all measure of pace, And fixity in our joys, And acquire a listening air. They are that that talks of going But never gets away; And that talks no less for knowing, [As it grows wiser and older, That now it means to stay.]2 My feet tug at the floor And my head sways to my shoulder Sometimes when I watch trees sway, From the window or the door. I shall set forth for somewhere, I shall make the reckless choice Some day when they are in voice And tossing so as to scare The white clouds over them on. I shall have less to say, But I shall be gone.
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View original text (without footnotes)1 omitted by Elwell
2 Elwell: "that now it means to stay / As it grows wiser, / As it grows older, / That now it means to stay."
Authorship:
- by Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), "The sound of the trees", appears in Mountain Interval, first published 1916 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Herbert Elwell (1898 - 1974), "The sound of the trees", published 1946 [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Garrett Medlock [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2004-02-09
Line count: 25
Word count: 146