Vermont
Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem
A white wood house defines the slope. The trees
Have gone to red and flame. A field beyond
Is spread with grass and granite rocks at ease.
This stonewall pattern thinks it holds a pond,
But it is free beneath October’s sun,
At least as free as anything can be
In fever such as we all know when, done
With heavy summer, eyes begin to see
The chill of air and glaze themselves with dreams
Restrained. The farmhouse windows have their fire
Inside as well. Twilight is more, it seems,
And maple facts can mesmerize desire.
..A white wood house defines the slope of hill
….Where people keep another autumn, still.
© Phillip Whidden 
This photograph of the sonneteer is a true likeness of him though it has been colorized from a black & white one; thus the claim that it was “Made with AI.”
The sonnet was first posted outside www.phillipwhidden.com by the Society of Classical Poets, December 27, 2017.
“Vermont” has also been published by Cambridge University Press (2021) in a book.
A teacher in Cambridge, England, included it in his syllabus about how to write poetry.
The sonnet was also posted on Instagram by someone; ‘Vermont’ by Phillip Whidden Unfortunately the illustration paired with the sonnet was inappropriate both in the Classical Poets and the Instagram postings.
“Vermont” was published in a textbook about writing and grammar and in e-form by BJU Press: https://www.bjupress.com/writing-grammar-12-worktext%2C-4th-ed./5637431573.p#; [pages 218-219]. That was in 2026. Therefore it has been published by a university press in what used to be the United States of America.
So at the moment the sonnet has had a life for nine years in various places, on paper and on the web (perhaps a bit longer if we include the moment it was first written down on paper by Whidden). Note also that it is being used to torture pupils and students right round the world (mostly because of Cambridge University Press). The poem has not been allowed to die or go into a coma.
Today (September 18, 2026) I wrote a sonnet about the life of a sonnet, that sonnet being mostly about the life of “Vermont.”
On September 15, 2026 the sonneteer himself discovered that on a website he had never heard of the sonnet was analyzed incorrectly in a close reading in an article and…it was repeatedly attributed to Robert Frost. The website is https://latrespace.com . Laugh now or forever hold your peace. It seems that I cannot hold my piece.
Early on in the life of “Vermont” an English teacher appealed to me to explain it to her. She had trouble because she did not apply the rule that a pronoun has as its antecedent the nearest previous noun of the same number and gender as the pronoun. That the sonnet appears in at least one texbook about writing and grammar is therefore perhaps wise. I suggest that you not ask any English teachers you know if they understand English grammar. Nuff said.
nice, phillip. R
I just now noticed your comment, Becky. Sorry.
Superb!
Thanks for such praise, Sarah.
Stupid me. I only just now saw your comment. I never think to check here for comments. Sorry.
Transported there! Loved it.
I’m very sorry that I only just now saw your comment. I’m glad it took you to Vermont.
Hi
Can you please help me with the analysis of this poem? I am trying to figure out a few lines of the poem but unsure if I am going right.
This stonewall…anything can be [lines 4-6]
The lines are
“This stonewall pattern thinks it holds a pond,
But it is free beneath October’s sun,
At least as free as anything can be”.
I assume you know what stonewalls in New England look like. If not, google “stonewall new england.”
Each wall has a random pattern of stones which it comprises. Of course the wall is supposed to hold a field and patch of ground inside it. The terms “random” and “pattern” are of course paradoxical.
The poem pretends the pond has a human capability (thinking) and can understand the concept of holding, holding water probably. The pond and field are not held by the wall. They are held by the forces of nature. The pond is free to be a pond and to do what ponds do and the field is free to be a field and do what fields do. The poem then questions the notion of freedom by saying “free as anything can be.” After a moment’s thinking, the reader realizes the pond and field are not free. They are bound by the the laws of nature. This implies that nothing is free. Everything is bound by laws. The pond is not free. It is at the mercy of nature’s laws.
I only just now saw your query. Sorry. I almost never check for comments here because almost no one ever sends a comment.
I replied to your message at some length.
?
I sent you a helpful reply.
What a nice poem
Are you ready for this? The editor at Cambridge University Press who bought it to be published in Cambridge didn’t understand it. He didn’t understand the negative undertow. I had to explain it to him. Still…he printed it. He paid a lot of money for it. So I think he agreed with you about its quality. I’m sorry that I did not see your comment until now. Please forgive me.
nice one sir
I don’t check here for comments. I am sorry I am very late in replying, Gugu. What is allpoetry.com?