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I started out talking about metaphors for the GED reading section last time… (Prospero Año Nuevo, by the way…) Anyway, it led me into poetry. I know, it’s the hardest thing, right? But the GED reading test’s gonna have poetry on it. And sometimes I like poetry, you know. It’s a matter of figuring out what they’re trying to say… that’s what reading’s about, right? It’s what the GED is about. So, anyway, here’s the poem:

The Silken Tent
by Robert Frost

She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one’s going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

On the GED you’ve got to read carefully, and especially for poems. So I’m going to try to take this apart, one line at a time, like I would for the GED test.

The Silken Tent
by Robert Frost

First the name. What’s he mean, a silken tent? What about it? A tent made of silk? At the beginning, see, I just ask myself questions, so I can try to figure out things later on.

She is as in a field a silken tent

The first line talks about the silken tent. It’s said a little funny, but he’s saying a woman is like a silk tent in a field. That’s what we talked about before… saying one thing is another thing. If you use “like” or “as,” it’s called a simile… like “similar.”

At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,

Now he’s describing the tent, like a picture. It helps to picture it in your head… that’s something to remember while taking the GED test. I picture a tent in the middle of a field, and it’s the middle of the day, sunny, with a breeze. All the morning dew is dried. The ropes “relent”? What does that mean? They give up? Soften? Maybe they’re slack, not tight, you know.

So that in guys it gently sways at ease,

Okay, I had to look up this one: “guys” It means, ropes that hold a tent or something. So I guess they are slack, like I thought. On the GED, I’d probably just skip this word. Anyway, back to my picture: So, we’ve got this silk tent, softly swaying in the breeze. Pretty.

And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward

Now, he’s talking about the pole in the center. It points up to heaven. (Pinnacle? Well, what would go to heavenward? It must mean the end, the top, si? That’s a vocabulary word I could guess on the GED.)

And signifies the sureness of the soul,

Now I’m getting it. I’ve got to take the picture of the tent and think back about it meaning a person. Making connections, that’s important for the GED. She’s got a good soul, right… “sureness of the soul.” So, she’s got a center that is tall, points to heaven, so she’s good at heart. But outside is more soft and gentle, like the silk and the ropes, maybe.

Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,

Okay… The center of the woman’s soul, the post… deep stuff for the GED… it stands on its own, without help… but the outward softness, “silken ties” are love that binds her to everything around. So maybe she is in tune with nature or something, her love goes out to the whole world.

And only by one’s going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.

So, she’s not really bound by her ties or her love for anyone outside her, except when there’s a problem or something, maybe. A big thing for me on the GED is vocabulary. “Taut” is a new one… but I can picture what happens to a rope in the wind… they’re loose, right, so the wind comes and pulls it tight…taut. I could get that on the GED test. “Capriciousness”… I don’t know that one. “Capriciousness of summer air…” Not stable, I guess? I don’t know that I’d know for sure what it was during the GED, without a dictionary. Let me look that up… it seems to mean whimsical or something. I don’t think it stops me from understanding, though.

If you were reading this on the GED, you’d need to figure out what the main idea is. He’s making a picture, to show what this woman is like. She’s got a solid, independent soul looking up to heaven. She loves the things around her in the world, but she’s not too tightly bound to them. That sums it up, right? On the GED, I guess I could figure out the main meaning… even though this is a hard one!

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