--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: (Soft petals, yes, but not so barren…" description: "\"(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you cam..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/robert-frost-371_barren_soft-petals-yes-but-not-so-barren-quite_2859038.png" --- # (Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with… ![“(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you came for and become like me, Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. How love burns through the Putting in the Seed On through the watching for…” quote by Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/robert-frost-371_barren_soft-petals-yes-but-not-so-barren-quite_2859038.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/robert-frost-371_barren_soft-petals-yes-but-not-so-barren-quite_2859038.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/71a/robert-frost-371_barren_soft-petals-yes-but-not-so-barren-quite_2859038.png) > “(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you came for and become like me, Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. How love burns through the Putting in the Seed On through the watching for that early birth When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed, The sturdy seedling with arched body comes Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs.” [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker warns against losing purpose and becoming consumed by fleeting passions, urging vigilance to stay true to one's original goals. **In simple terms:** Stay focused on your original purpose and avoid being consumed by temporary desires. Key Takeaway Maintain purpose and resist distraction. Themes purpose passion focus selfcontrol Mood reflective serious Type advisory philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - personal relationships - creative projects - spiritual practice Key Concepts existentialism mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - What core purpose guides you? - How do you recognize when passion becomes distraction? A Different Perspective Even with vigilance, external pressures can still derail intentions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birth/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Seedlings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seedlings/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Springtime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/springtime/) ## Related quotes > [“Children are like soft petals. One wrong pluck and they are damaged forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-dudani/children-are-like-soft-petals-one-wrong-pluck-and-they-are-damaged/) [Nikita Dudani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-dudani/) > [Let soldiers on manoeuvres plant trees. Give police and criminals a shovel and a thousand seedlings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wright/let-soldiers-on-manoeuvres-plant-trees-give-police-and-criminals-a/) [John Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wright/) > [“It's when the seed grows up that it is known as a tree. Nobody calls the "seedlings" as "trees" and no seedling is ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/it-s-when-the-seed-grows-up-that-it-is-known-as-a-tree-nobody-calls/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [A bag of apples, a pot of homemade jam, a scribbled note, a bunch of golden flowers, a coloured pebble, a box of seedlings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/a-bag-of-apples-a-pot-of-homemade-jam-a-scribbled-note-a-bunch-of/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [“Your attitudes are literally seeds for the growing of your future self.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/your-attitudes-are-literally-seeds-for-the-growing-of-your-future-self/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [We are all part of the life cycle. Like a seed we are born, we sprout, we grow, we mature and decay, making room…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-adler/we-are-all-part-of-the-life-cycle-like-a-seed-we-are-born-we-sprout/) [Margot Adler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-adler/) > [Nobody is going to invest a fortune into good orchard land, all the farming equipment necessary, the fertilizer, the seedlings, the nonstop Herculean work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/nobody-is-going-to-invest-a-fortune-into-good-orchard-land-all-the/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [I have no connections here; only gusty collisions, rootless seedlings forced into bloom, that collapse. ... I am the Visiting Poet: a real unicorn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marge-piercy/i-have-no-connections-here-only-gusty-collisions-rootless-seedlings/) [Marge Piercy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marge-piercy/) > [Not the least of the problems in clarifying one's consciousness is developing the stoic determination to criticize one's own softness or sentimentality toward oneself.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/not-the-least-of-the-problems-in-clarifying-one-s-consciousness-is/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [“Small seedlings are often stronger when they grow with company rather than isolation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dowding/small-seedlings-are-often-stronger-when-they-grow-with-company-rather/) [Charles Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dowding/) > [Have you ever noticed the perfection of nature? The seasons and how one changes into the next, the falling leaves, composting soil, rains, new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-kest/have-you-ever-noticed-the-perfection-of-nature-the-seasons-and-how/) [Bryan Kest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-kest/) > [At the very simplest, I think as Van Gogh said and St Francis would have said, we must find nature. Just to be in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-leunig/at-the-very-simplest-i-think-as-van-gogh-said-and-st-francis-would/) [Michael Leunig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-leunig/) > [Dreams are the seedlings for success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meekness-tapera/dreams-are-the-seedlings-for-success/) [Meekness Tapera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meekness-tapera/) > [The human spirit is nurtured by praise, as much as a seedling is nurtured by the soil, the water and the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-fernandez/the-human-spirit-is-nurtured-by-praise-as-much-as-a-seedling-is/) Mario Fernandez > [There are no medium-sized trees in the deep forest. There are only the towering ones, whose canopy spreads across the sky. Below, in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-no-medium-sized-trees-in-the-deep-forest-there-are-only-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More by Robert Frost > [The brain is a wonderful organ. It starts working when you get up in the morning, and doesn't stop until you get to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-brain-is-a-wonderful-organ-it-starts-working-when-you-get-up-in/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [When I see birches bend to left and right... I like to think some boy's been swinging them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/when-i-see-birches-bend-to-left-and-right-i-like-to-think-some-boy-s/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [“The promising young poets, the hopefuls? I'd name Richard Wilbur, Peter Viereck, Karl Shapiro, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, John Ciardi...Leonard Bacon...but it is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-promising-young-poets-the-hopefuls-i-d-name-richard-wilbur-peter/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [Lord, I have loved Your sky, Be it said against or for me, Have loved it clear and high, Or low and stormy...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/lord-i-have-loved-your-sky-be-it-said-against-or-for-me-have-loved-it/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [Let him that is without stone among you cast the first thing he can lay his hands on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/let-him-that-is-without-stone-among-you-cast-the-first-thing-he-can/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [It is only a moment here and a moment there that the greatest writer has. Some cognizance of the fact must be taken in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/it-is-only-a-moment-here-and-a-moment-there-that-the-greatest-writer/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [And of course there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/and-of-course-there-must-be-something-wrong-in-wanting-to-silence-any/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/there-are-two-kinds-of-teachers-the-kind-that-fill-you-with-so-much/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [The rose is a rose, And was always a rose. But now the theory goes That the apple's a rose, And the pear is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-rose-is-a-rose-and-was-always-a-rose-but-now-the-theory-goes-that/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee, and I'll forgive Thy great big joke on me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/forgive-o-lord-my-little-jokes-on-thee-and-i-ll-forgive-thy-great-big/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [What an exciting age it is we live in With all this talk about the hope of youth And nothing made of youth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/what-an-exciting-age-it-is-we-live-in-with-all-this-talk-about-the/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [The footpath down to the well is healed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/the-footpath-down-to-the-well-is-healed/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [There is the fear that we shan't prove worthy in the eyes of someone who knows us at least as well as we know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/there-is-the-fear-that-we-shan-t-prove-worthy-in-the-eyes-of-someone/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [It's God - I recognised him from Blake's picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/it-s-god-i-recognised-him-from-blake-s-picture/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [Create and stir other people to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/create-and-stir-other-people-to-create/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) [Explore all 624 Robert Frost quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) ## More Barren quotes > [“This book is written in a barren period of loss with an attempt to move forward towards substance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phindiwe-nkosi/this-book-is-written-in-a-barren-period-of-loss-with-an-attempt-to/) [Phindiwe Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phindiwe-nkosi/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [I stayed in L.A. long enough to get on my feet, and then I moved back to New York. The reason I moved here…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iggy-pop/i-stayed-in-l-a-long-enough-to-get-on-my-feet-and-then-i-moved-back/) [Iggy Pop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iggy-pop/) > [You may boldly say, you did not plough Or trust the barren and ungrateful sands With the fruitful grain of your religious counsels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-massinger/you-may-boldly-say-you-did-not-plough-or-trust-the-barren-and/) [Philip Massinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-massinger/) > [T is liberty crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/t-is-liberty-crowns-britannia-s-isle-and-makes-her-barren-rocks-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [My icons do not raise up the blessed savior in elaborate cathedrals. They are constructed concentrations celebrating barren rooms. They bring a limited light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-flavin/my-icons-do-not-raise-up-the-blessed-savior-in-elaborate-cathedrals/) [Dan Flavin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-flavin/) > [“Just when normal life felt almost possible--when the world held some kind of order, meaning, even loveliness (prismatic spray of light through an icicle;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wroblewski/just-when-normal-life-felt-almost-possible-when-the-world-held-some/) [David Wroblewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wroblewski/) > [The apparition of an evil, sick unconscious wild city rose before me in visible semblance, and about the dead buildings in the barren air,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-ginsberg/the-apparition-of-an-evil-sick-unconscious-wild-city-rose-before-me/) [Allen Ginsberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-ginsberg/) > [Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-not-good-enough-of-course-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All men who live only according to their five senses, and seek nothing beyond the gratification of their natural appetites for pleasure and reputation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/all-men-who-live-only-according-to-their-five-senses-and-seek-nothing/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [I find the aesthetics of the 20th century hopelessly barren.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/i-find-the-aesthetics-of-the-20th-century-hopelessly-barren/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [Perseverance gives power to weakness, and opens to poverty the world's wealth. It spreads fertility over the barren landscape, and buds the choicest flowers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-griswold-goodrich/perseverance-gives-power-to-weakness-and-opens-to-poverty-the-world-s/) Samuel Griswold Goodrich > [“Life without love is nothing but a barren piece of land.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-ashok-anand/life-without-love-is-nothing-but-a-barren-piece-of-land/) [Dr. Ashok Anand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-ashok-anand/) > [Fruits fail and love dies and time ranges;Thou art fed with perpetual breath, and alive after infinite changes,And fresh from the kisses of death,Of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-charles-swinburne/fruits-fail-and-love-dies-and-time-ranges-thou-art-fed-with-perpetual/) [Algernon Charles Swinburne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-charles-swinburne/) > [By the deficiency or absence of one necessary constituent, all the others being present, the soil is rendered barren for all those crops to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justus-von-liebig/by-the-deficiency-or-absence-of-one-necessary-constituent-all-the/) [Justus von Liebig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justus-von-liebig/) Browse all 324 Barren quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "(Soft petals, yes, but not so barren quite, Mingled with these, smooth bean and wrinkled pea;) And go along with you ere you lose sight Of what you came for and become like me, Slave to a springtime passion for the earth. 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