Roberts and Souter Trade Robert Frost Quotes in Farewell Letters
There’s a touch of Robert Frost in Justice David H. Souter’s love of New Hampshire and the old farmhouse where he lived outside of Washington.
The poet figured prominently in farewell letters marking Souter’s last day on the bench on Monday, the New York Times reports. The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” was quoted first, in a letter (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) from the justices read by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
“We understand your desire to trade white marble for White Mountains, and return to your land ‘of easy wind and downy flake,’ ” the letter said. Souter looked down as the letter was read, Dana Milbank writes in his Washington Sketch column for the Washington Post headlined “Mr. Smith Leaves Washington.”
Souter replied in kind, reading from a letter (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog) with references to Frost’s “Two Tramps in Mud Time,” the Times says.
“You quoted the Poet, and I will, too, in words that set out the ideal of the life engaged, ‘… where love and need are one … ’ ” Souter said.
“I will not sit with you at our bench after the court rises for the summer this time,” Souter continued, “but neither will I retire from our friendship, which has held us together despite the pull of the most passionate dissent. It has made the work lighter through all my tenure here, and for as long as I live, I will be thankful for it, and be under a very grateful obligation to each one of you.”
The National Law Journal reports that Souter’s voice seemed to quiver as he spoke.
