My Butterfly

Thine emulous fond flowers are dead, too,
And the daft sun-assaulter, he
That frighted thee so oft, is fled or dead:
Save only me
(Nor is it sad to thee!)
Save only me
There is none left to mourn thee in the fields.

The gray grass is not dappled with the snow;
Its two banks have not shut upon the river;
But it is long ago--
It seems forever--
Since first I saw thee glance,
With all the dazzling other ones,
In airy dalliance,
Precipitate in love,
Tossed, tangled, whirled and whirled above,
Like a limp rose-wreath in a fairy dance.

When that was, the soft mist
Of my regret hung not on all the land,
And I was glad for thee,
And glad for me, I wist.

Thou didst not know, who tottered, wandering on high,
That fate had made thee for the pleasure of the wind,
With those great careless wings,
Nor yet did I.

And there were other things:
It seemed God let thee flutter from his gentle clasp:
Then fearful he had let thee win
Too far beyond him to be gathered in,
Snatched thee, o'er eager, with ungentle grasp.

Ah! I remember me
How once conspiracy was rife
Against my life--
The languor of it and the dreaming fond;
Surging, the grasses dizzied me of thought,
The breeze three odors brought,
And a gem-flower waved in a wand!

Then when I was distraught
And could not speak,
Sidelong, full on my cheek,
What should that reckless zephyr fling
But the wild touch of thy dye-dusty wing!

I found that wing broken to-day!
For thou are dead, I said,
And the strange birds say.
I found it with the withered leaves
Under the eaves.

This poem is very sad and looks into the emotions that happen when someone close to you dies. I thought it was interesting that the name of the poem is "My Butterfly" because I tend to think of butterflies having freedom because they have the ability to fly. I think Frost is saying that in this persons death, they are free and that there is something waiting for them after death. I think it is relatable because most people have lost someone important in their life. In the link that I posted in his biography, it mentions that his father passed away. I think this poem could be about his father's death.

*Quatrain: Stanza three is an example of a quatrain because it's a four line stanza.

*Elegy: This poem is an elegy because it is a lyric poem that discusses the dead. Frost does not leave the reader to guessing if it is about death because in line 44 he says, "For thou are dead."  that laments the dead

*Free verse: This poem does not have a certain amount of lines in each stanza or a certain rhythm based on syllables. I think it is interesting that Frost uses the butterfly, which I tend to associate with freedom, and also a free verse style of poetry.