Pro A Time to Talk

A Time To Talk

by robert frost

When a friend calls to me from the road
And slows his horse to a meaning walk,
I don’t stand still and look around
On all the hills I haven’t hoed,
And shout from where I am, What is it?
No, not as there is a time to talk.
I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,
Blade-end up and five feet tall,
And plod: I go up to the stone wall
For a friendly visit.

Vocabulary
a meaning walk- a meaningful walk. a meaningfully slow walk. Walking slowly shows my friend plans to stop and talk with me.
Hoe- a tool for digging in the ground and the word to describe that kind of digging.
Plod- a slow, heavy walk. Perhaps to describe walking through the hoed field

Paraphrase

When a friend shouts to get my attention
And stops what he is doing
I don’t ignore him
and only think about what I have to do
Shout at him without looking, “What!?”
No, I make time to talk with my friend
I stop my work
And go over to him.
And a good conversation.

Commentary

Frost’s meaning is fairly clear, we should always make time to talk with our friends. The poem is effective because he paints a picture of this happening in a way that we can see and agree, yes this is right.

We see the physical work, even the physical space of the friend far away on the road. We can feel the emotional distance too, do I care enough about this person to make room for them in my day.
I do. There is a time to talk. Making the time to visit with friends, to nurture our friendship is as valuable as the time we spend at work. Maybe even more so.