"For Once, Then, Something" by Robert Frost

For Once, Then, Something

Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs

Always wrong to the light, so never seeing

Deeper down in the well than where the water

Gives me back in a shining surface picture

Me myself in the summer heaven godlike

Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.

Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,

I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,

Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,

Something more of the depths—and then I lost it.

Water came to rebuke the too clear water.

One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple

Shook whatever it was lay there at bottom,

Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?

Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Dust of Snow"?

Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)

Robert Frost was an American poet who was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s life was marked by grief and loss. When he was 11, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving just eight dollars. Frost’s mother died of cancer when he was 26. Mental illness ran in his family. He and his mother suffered from depression, and his sister and his daughter were committed to mental hospitals. Using realistic depictions of rural life, his poems often examined complex social and philosophical themes. Frost’s first book was published at the age of 40, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and becoming the most famous poet of his time.

"For Once, Then, Something" explanation

In the poem, the poet grapples with his personal exploration and the questioning of the limits of human perception. Looking into a well, the speaker tries to see his reflection. This can symbolize the poet's attempt to deeply understand an object. However, being on the wrong side, he can't see into the well properly, which may symbolize the difficulties we face when trying to understand something beyond our perception. At one point though he saw something more. This could symbolize the truth itself or merely emphasize the importance of personal understanding rather than seeking truth itself. This poem is another example of Frost’s exploration of human life and understanding, and their limits through the lens of nature.