"Birches" by Robert Frost: An Optical Poem, 2024 | From the Vaults

“When I see birches bend to left and right / Across the lines of straighter darker trees, / I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.” On April 7, 1955, Robert Frost delivered a poetry reading at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author recites his classic poem “Birches,” in which an older narrator reflects on the solitude of a childhood spent swinging birch trees in the forest. This optical poem illustrates Frost’s recitation with artworks from The Met’s collection juxtaposed with footage of wildlife in Kingston, New York. The event, originally recorded on reel-to-reel audio tape, was digitized in 2020.
Other poets invited to read at The Met included W. H. Auden, T. S. Eliot, and E. E. Cummings.
Read the poem: www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...
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© 2024 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

[@galaxy_mosaic3587]

that is really beautiful. I liked to hear the roughness of Frost's voice against the softness of his memories and emotions. thank you

[@rtd1791]

I have never heard Robert Frost’s voice before. Somehow it changes the meaning of this particular poem but also all of the other Frost poems I have read. The vulnerability in his old craggy voice wistfully recalls the boy he once was.

[@Wyattinous]

Absolutely beautiful, surreal. Feels like a dream.

[@kathycarlson7947]

Oh, this is beyond beautiful, just what my heart needed on this cold, gray morning.

[@DoctorJoanieTool]

Amazing. You are sharing such wonderful things w us. This is the perfect day for this poem after the current snow and rain in MN and elsewhere. Thank you @TheMet !!

[@DaveInLAS]

This is heaven to me 🙏🏻✨His voice reminds me of William S. Borroughs’

[@user-wc8gi7bp6q]

This was just sublime. Wow! the combination of art, nature and poetry, what could be better? I too had never heard Frost's voice but it was perfect with the images.

[@andrastetriformis6241]

Lovely, thank you. ❤