In May of 2017, Forrest said the following about his Treasure Poem:
“Every word is placed in there strategically, and you can’t ignore any of the nouns in that poem.”
This was during the interview: ‘On the Road with Charlie.’ (Full quote below within context).
So we might ask ourselves, what are the nouns in Forrest Fenn’s Poem? Let’s have a look going with the common definition of a noun- which is:
A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun).
It’s interesting to first notice those nouns after the word ‘the’. There are ten of them (ten/X marks the spot).
The Canyon
The Home
The Meek
The End
The Blaze
The Chest
The Answers
The Cold
The Wood
The Gold
Some great nouns there. Forrest did once say to ‘Read the Poem like you were to put an X on a map.‘ Can these ten/x nouns help do that?
But what are the other nouns? If you do this exercise yourself, you will understand some words, depending on how the poem is read/interpreted, are questionable.
For instance, in the first stanza- ‘I can keep my secret where’. Secret is most likely a noun, but it could be an adjective describing the cryptic place of ‘where’. I place a ? after those words, which if I read the poem slightly differently than commonly taken, it might be a noun. (the list includes those above and pronouns are in parentheses’ (first use/not duplicated))
Stanza 1: (I), there (?), treasures, bold (?), secret, where(?), hint (?), riches, new (?), old (?)
Stanza 2: (it), waters, canyon, down (?), far (?), walk (?), below (?), home, Brown
Stanza 3: there (?), place, meek, end, paddle, creek, loads, water
Stanza 4: (you), blaze, quest, gaze, chest, peace
Stanza 5: trove, (all)(?), answers
Stanza 6: (me), cold, brave (?), wood, title, gold
What are your possible nouns? We may each read/take the poem differently.
Once we identify them, then we can ask, what reason did Forrest bring attention to these words?
Just doing this exercise helps us recognize some important items- be in tune with more. How each is used, and applied together, with the entire poem, will take us to that hidden treasure somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, north of Santa Fe!
Best of luck to all you seek! Always treasure the adventure!
Full Quote:
“Well I worked on the poem on and off for a few years. Because I had to change it. I thought I was gonna die. And so, the initial part of my poem said something like, “Leave my bones alone. Take the chest and go in peace.” But then when I got well, I ruined the story. So I had to change that and I’ve said before that that poem was really written by an architect. Every word is placed in there strategically, and you can’t ignore any of the nouns in that poem.”
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