The Oven Bird

Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)



There is a singer eveyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past,
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

34 sec read
150

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABCBDCDEEFGFG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 575
Words 116
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. more…

All Robert Frost poems | Robert Frost Books

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