Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.
Fireflies per se have no value or importance in our day to day life. Yet, in poetry they come in to limelight more often for different reasons. I like the context in which fireflies are taken and the writing by and large.
I had to think through the last line. It is both sudden and true. I love it.
Well, I am not even a fly that glows, And do I achieve nothing that flows. Here I am receiving only the blows!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
The thought of fireflies trying to emulate 'real stars' is as way out as it is wonderful, but Frost follows their initial glow of success with a last line that is both true and unexpected and makes the poem, which combines complete simplicity with total technical mastery.