There is a singer everyone 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.
Initial Interpretation:
I think that the poem is just talking about a bird and his travels throughout the seasons.
Paraphrase:
Everyone has heard this singer. It is loud, a mid-summer, mid-wood bird. He fills the trees with sound again. He says that leaves are old and that for flowers mid summer has few and spring has many. He says that the petals have already fallen. They fell when the pear and cherry blooms also fell in showers. This is as brief as a moment overcast on a sunny day, and soon comes fall. The bird says that highway dust is all over. He would stop singing and be like other birds, but he knows in singing not to sing. He asks the question is every way except for with words: What to make of such a diminished thing.
SWIFTT:
SW- The words used in the poem are specific to nature. For instance, he says that the blooms fell in showers. Showers being rain and rain is a part of nature.
I- Frost uses a lot of imagery of nature. He talks about the leaves falling, and there being sunny days with overcasts. He talks about the bird a lot and that is definitely an image.
F- There are metaphors and similes in the poem. He is also using personification on the bird by saying that he knows about the seasons.
T- The tone of the poem is observant and serene. The bird is observing his surroundings and noticing the passing of time.
T- The theme of the poem is that spring itself is short. Through all the other seasons, all anyone is doing is waiting for spring to come back and when it does come, it goes by fast. In a symbolic sense, the spring time could be looked at as young adulthood or life itself.
Conclusion:
The poem is about a bird observing his surroundings, but it is also about his observations about life itself in relation to the seasons.
