Lake Morning In Autumn

It would be
hard for a student of poetry to not find a similarity of mood and message between "Lake
Morning in Autumn" and Robert Frost's beloved poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening." Although Livingston's poem is overtly a nature poem about a stork, he didn't name
the poem for the stork. His title, "Lake Morning in Autumn," draws a parallel, by
contrast, with Frost's poem. Frost's poem happens in the evening; this poem occurs at sunrise.
Frost's poem takes place in a woods overlooking a frozen lake; this poem takes place on a lake.
Frost's poem is set in winter, with "easy wind and downy flake" in the air; this poem
is set in autumn, with "pencil-slanted rain." 

Despite these
contrasts, the isolation, exhaustion, and determination of the protagonists--man and
stork--unite the two works. The stork is on a lonesome journey, separated from his fellows, and
stops to rest, "ponderously alone and some weeks early." He is utterly exhausted, so
much so that he doesn't care about his own appearance, "too tired to arrange his
wind-buffeted plumage." Despite his loneliness, despite his tiredness, he sighs and mounts
slowly to the sky to resume his journey toward his distant destination, just as the man in
Frost's poem continues on with "miles to go before I sleep." 

As in
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the overriding message one gets from this poem
is of the internal motivation that drives one onward, despite one's personal discomfort. People,
like birds, have the ability to press on toward a goal that is greater than their momentary
desires. Whether that goal involves "promises to keep" or represents some other
internal compunction, it allows people to push through loneliness and fatigue to achieve
success. In this poem, the subtle message transcends the surface meaning. It calls us to heed
the inner drive that compels us toward our ultimate destination, even when we are alone and
exhausted.