Birches Quotes
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I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
Context
The speaker of Robert Frost's "Birches" spends his time looking at—you guessed it—birches. Yep, the trees.
He pictures a boy climbing to the top of trees and bending them down until he can let go and fall safely to the ground. He remembers doing that when he was a kid—and the memory makes him conclude that his youthful imagination can free him from the trap of adult life at any moment.
Bottom line: Life's pleasures (like birch swinging) are enough to make life worth living.
Where you've heard it
"One could do worse than __________."
Usually you don't hear that sentence finished with "be a swinger of birches," but, hey, to each his own.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
There are way more pretentious ways to finish the sentence.