Robert Frost finishes “Reluctance” with:
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?
We’ll rejoin this season on the lake … boats going to and fro …
… long walks on the beaches …
… colorful sunsets …
… and other solitary beauties. So, for this season, we’ll concentrate of other joyful things!
Such as … ta da … steaming up some joyful morsels! Yum!
Or, taking the time to put together things of comfort!
It is the season to “go with the drift of things…” Not with reluctance – but with expectation!
I enjoy my food too, it is a comfort in these troubled times. Can you explain in the poem why Robert Frost uses the word ‘treason’. I am not a very literary person sadly.
Hello from the US west coast! Sorry to take so very long to chat with you. I think Robert Frost uses the word treason to represent the ultimate betrayal … and to “go along” with the “drift of things”, or to lighty accept the “end of a season” is not less than a treason to oneself.
Now this interpretation is from a traveling tortuga … sadly not a literary giant as well.