# Good-Bye and Keep Cold explained — New Hampshire

> Chapter companion for New Hampshire by Robert Frost.

## What happens

The speaker bids farewell to a young orchard as winter approaches, expressing concern over the various threats it faces from animals and weather, and emphasizing the importance of keeping it cold to protect it. He must leave to tend to other trees, trusting the orchard's fate ultimately to God.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Transience

The poem centers on the orchard's vulnerability through winter and the speaker's temporary departure, highlighting nature's cycles and the transient care humans can provide.

### Work and Labor

The speaker's business with 'different trees' and the mention of axe work on maples, birches, and tamaracks underscores the labor involved in tending to the land.

## Key lines

> This saying good-bye on the edge of the dark And cold to an orchard so young in the bark Reminds me of all that can happen to harm

Bidding farewell to a young orchard at the onset of winter makes me think of all the dangers it faces.

_The speaker expresses anxiety about leaving the orchard unprotected during the cold season._

> Keep cold, young orchard. Good-bye and keep cold. Dread fifty above more than fifty below.

Stay cold, young orchard; farewell and remain cold. Fear warmth more than extreme cold.

_The speaker advises the orchard that cold is safer than warmth, which could cause premature growth and damage._

> But something has to be left to God.

Ultimately, some things must be entrusted to a higher power.

_The speaker acknowledges human limitations and the need to trust in divine care for the orchard._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_hampshire_se/chapters/good-bye-and-keep-cold
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_hampshire_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/new_hampshire_se/chapters