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 every thing 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.

Analysis
The poem begins with a simile of the woman in question and a silken
tent. The second line goes on to place and deepen the context wherein
she assumes the qualities of the tent, in this case midday amidst a
summer breeze. It lends itself to alliteration with the catchy
phrase sunny summer breeze. The third line of the poem has the
interesting phrase and all it's ropes relent. This is another bout of
alliteration but there's also something subtle about the ideas of her
ropes relenting. Relent means to slacken or become less severe. So
there's some sense of freedom from tautness that a rope might impose
upon her. The next line uses an archaic seldom used meaning with
guys which means a pinion holding down a rope for a tent. Here the
poem rhymes breeze with ease and will keep this ABAB rhyme scheme
until the end rhyme composed of the last two lines. The next line
speaks of it's pinnacle which is the top of the tent swaying
skyward. The narration then explaines this part of the metaphor to
mean the sureness of the soul. We can take it to mean a sort of
confidence or faith, which couples well with heavenward in the
preceding line.

The next two lines posits that this sureness of the soul is not due any
one rope, and each is bound loosely. These silken ties that hold her
and bellow her up are finally characterized as love and thought, and
they are countless in number. Here the narration intimates that these
strands oflove and thought tie her to each thing on earth. The last
three lines wrap it up nicely. One silken line goes taut in the whimsy
of summer air and make evident as the slightest bondage.