Table of Contents
Introduction:
The poem “Something Told the Wild Geese” was written by an American Poet Rachel Field. The poem was first published in Rachel Field’s children’s poetry book named “Branches Green” in 1934. The poem describes nature warning the wild geese about the winter season.
About the Poet:
Rachel Field was an American novelist, poet as well as fictional writer. She won Newbery Award for her work Hitty, Her First Hundred Years. Some of her notable works are Hitty, Her First Hundred Years, Time Out of Mind, All This and Heaven, too, Something Told the Wild Geese.
Form:
The poet Rachel Field wrote the poem “Something Told the Wild Geese” is a four stanza poem. Each stanza consists of four lines. It is known as quatrains.
Meter:
The poet Rachel Field used a trochaic trimeter to construct the poem “Something Told the Wild Geese”.
Summary:
The poem “Something Told the Wild Geese” is a poem describing how nature helps the wild geese from winter. Nature hints regarding the coming of winter and warns the wild geese to move away from the place. Though the summer has not ended, nature asks the wild geese to move away from the place. Thus, the poet has used certain images in the poem depicting the winter. The poet has used the image of a tree which looks low with the weight of ripe fruits. So, throughout the poem, the poet says that nature is urging the wild geese regarding the upcoming winter.
Poem Analysis:-
Stanza 1:
Lines 1-4:
Something told the wild geese It was time to go. Though the fields lay golden Something whispered,—”Snow.”
The first stanza says that something warned the wild geese to move from the place. Something from mother nature is instructing the wild geese about the upcoming winter. In Spite of the summer season, something from nature is urging the wild geese to leave the place. Something from mother nature whispered to the ears of wild geese that the snow is coming.
Stanza 2:
Lines 5-8:
Leaves were green and stirring, Berries, luster-glossed, But beneath warm feathers Something cautioned,—”Frost.”
The surroundings are pleasant. The leaves are green. The place around them is pleasant and beautiful. But beneath the warm feathers,something from mother nature warned them about the frost during the winter season.
Stanza 3:
Lines 9-12:
All the sagging orchards Steamed with amber spice, But each wild breast stiffened At remembered ice.
In this stanza the poet describes the orchards that are drooping with ripe fruits. The heaviness of the ripe fruits makes the trees bend. The wild geese couldn’t enjoy the pleasant and warm weather. Their mind couldn’t stop recalling the environment of winter.
Stanza 4:
Lines 13-16:
Something told the wild geese It was time to fly,— Summer sun was on their wings, Winter in their cry.
There is something from mother nature urging the wild geese to fly. The winter has not started. Despite the warmth on their wings, the image of winter makes them cry.
