West-Running Brook
Price: $125.00
Hard Cover. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1928. First Edition. Very Good.
Illustrated with four woodcuts by J. J. Lankes, including a frontispiece. First edition, first state, lacking first edition statement to copyright page. Publisher's paper-covered boards over green cloth, with gilt illustration to front board, and spine lettered in gilt; lacking dust jacket. Very good book, with spine ends and corners rubbed to boards, and light toning to spine. Overall, a clean copy of Frost's enduring collection of poetry. Crane A10. West-Running Brook is a collection of 39 poems, including "Spring Pools," "A Peck of Gold," "Once the Pacific," "Acquainted with the Night," "Canis Major," "A Passing Glimpse," "The Peaceful Shepherd," "The Flower," and "On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations," among others. The poems are thematically divided into six sections: "I: Spring Pools," "II: Fiat Nox," "III: West-Running Brook," "IV: Sand Dunes," "V: Over Back," and "VI: My Native Simile." Throughout the text, Frost uses nature as allegory for human interactions and political themes. For example, the titular "West-Running Brook" involves a husband and wife conversing about a brook that runs west instead of east, which Frost uses as a symbol for the importance of contrast to achieve harmony in personal relationships. The text is illustrated with woodcuts by Lankes, and their rough beauty is perfectly paired with Frost's verse. Item #RF075
