The land was ours before we were the land's. She was our land more than a hundred years Before we were her people.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Frost reflects that people once owned the land before the land owned them, highlighting a reversal of relationship.
- In plain terms
- We used to belong to the land, not the other way around.
- What can you take from it?
- Respect the natural world rather than dominate it.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does it mean to 'own' a place?
- How does this perspective affect our actions toward nature?
Another view
The metaphor may oversimplify complex historical land rights.
More from Robert Frost
When I see young men doing so wonderfully well in athletics, I don't feel angry at them. I feel jealous of them. I wish that some of my boys in writing would d…
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Permalink to quote #43 The old dog barks backward without getting up; I can remember when he was a pup.
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