Here’s a full poem ‘A Soldier’ by Robert Frost. If you’re interested in a full analysis of this poem, check out our links at the bottom of the page!
A Soldier
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled,
That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust,
But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust.
If we who sight along it round the world,
See nothing worthy to have been its mark,
It is because like men we look too near,
Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere,
Our missiles always make too short an arc.
They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect
The curve of earth, and striking, break their own;
They make us cringe for metal-point on stone.
But this we know, the obstacle that checked
And tripped the body, shot the spirit on
Further than target ever showed or shone.
Robert Frost
‘Desert Places’ by Robert Frost – Poem Analysis
Thanks for reading! If you’re studying this particular poem, you can buy our detailed study guide here. This includes:
- Vocabulary
- Story + Summary
- Speaker + Voice
- Language Feature Analysis
- Form and Structure Analysis
- Context
- Attitudes + Messages
- Themes + Deeper Ideas
- Key Quotations
- Extra tasks to complete by yourself
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