Robert Frost wrote Spring pools in 1926. Frost at this time was alone as Elinor had gone to Pittsfield to look after Marjorie who had become very unwell. Frost was only teaching one day a week at this time, this allowed a lot of time for his poetry. This is what Frost needed as he was worried about his future as an author due to lack of poetry he had published recently.


Spring Pools


These pools that, though in forests, still reflect
The total sky almost without defect,
And like the flowers beside them, chill and shiver,
Will like the flowers beside them soon be gone,
And yet not out by any brook or river,
But up by roots to bring dark foliage on.

The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
To darken nature and be summer woods --
Let them think twice before they use their powers
To blot out and drink up and sweep away
These flowery waters and these watery flowers
From snow that melted only yesterday.

 The first thing that attracted me to this poem was the way Frost uses strong imagery to illustrate his obsoleting emotions. He does this by linking the negativity in his life with the dying flowers and his hope, through the life cycle of nature.  I believe he is using this imagery to represent his hope for his daughter. He uses the dying flowers to signify how she is currently unwell, however expresses his anticipation for her recovery in the second stanza by describing the flowers coming back to life. The use of ‘buds’ again indicate ‘a fresh start’ and health which is what he will be longing for. This imagery could also be a reflection of his career and his anticipation that he will become more successful.

My Recording