We enjoy poetry for its language and ideas. Nowhere is this more true than in the poetry
of Robert Frost. As a poet who devoted himself to the writing of accessible poetry, Frost
wrote his poems using the language of conversation. As such, on first reading, his poems
are quite easy to understand. However, where he wished to explore an idea in greater
depth Frost employed metaphorical and symbolic language. He uses nature and a variety
of natural images to illustrate issues that concerned him throughout his life. So whether
or not the reader understands the hidden meaning they can almost certainly enjoy his
descriptions of nature - made all the more vivid by his sensuous use of language. Through
his descriptions of nature he explores many interesting themes and ideas such as the (1)
cycle of life and death, (2) relationships between people and (3) man’s relationship
with nature. Like his use of language these themes are accessible to readers as they
have universal significance for all. Although his poetry would not be described as being
personal, it is through his exploration of universal themes that we get some insight into
the poet and his craft which, for a reader of poetry, is thoroughly enjoyable.
(1 – first idea or theme)
The idea of the cycle of life and death permeates the poems “Birches” from start to
finish. It begins with the poet observing the destruction done to Birch trees as a result of
the natural cycles of seasonal weathering. Ice-storms have bent their branches out of
shape and the repeated process of the freezing cold of winter and intense heat of
summer have left the trees ‘bowed’, ‘trailing their leaves on the ground’. Frost uses a
simile to describe how he sees the trees –
‘like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
before them over their heads to dry in the sun’
suggesting that, although they are weather-beaten and somewhat defeated by the passage
of time, these trees have aged with grace and dignity. For me this suggests an obvious
metaphor to the aging poet himself, or indeed any aging person, whose physical beauty
fades with the age but whose character is shaped by life experience. The poem goes on to
explore the loss of innocence as one moves from childhood to adulthood. The poet
describes the joy a young boy can derive from swinging off the branches of a birch tree
as a means of play after a day of work. The poet admires the boy’s ability to entertain
himself so easily –
‘whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter, and could play alone.’
It seems the poet mourns the loss of imaginative play innate in childhood and in an
effort to recover his own sense of imagination he prefers to think that it was a boy
swinging on the birch trees that bent them all out of shape - not the result of the weather
which can be explained in scientific terms. He imagines the boy trying to subdue the trees
as though attempting to defeat an enemy in battle until ‘not one was left for him to
conquer’. We see that such imagination is necessary in the writing of poetry and Frost
uses the description of the boy’s play as a metaphor for the delicate and specific art of
constructing a poem –
‘He learned all there was to learn about not launching out too soon…He
always kept his poise… climbing carefully with the same poise you use to fill a
cup up to the brim and even above the brim.'
From I learned that a poet needs patience in waiting for the right words and mustn’t get
carried away with what he’s writing. So in the same way that the boy successfully taught
himself to ride birch trees the poet has taught himself to write good poetry. It is also
noticeable that the life of a poet seems to be as solitary as that of the boy ‘too far from
town’ playing on his own. But despite the solitude there seems to be great satisfaction in
completing the process as the boy lets go of the branch ‘kicking his way down through
the air to the ground’. This would suggest that the same sense of accomplishment and
relief comes on the completion of a poem. I really enjoyed reading this description of
playing in this poem as a metaphor for writing and feel I have gained a greater
appreciation of the art of poetry writing and can sympathise with the poet when he feels
he needs a break. Although the poet never seeks sympathy for what seems to be
necessary isolation for his work, he does suggest that the demands of being a poet often
weigh heavy on him and he would like to reverse the cycle of life and return to the state
of childhood innocence – even if only for a while.
‘so was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be’.
(2 – second idea/them, linked to previous discussion for fluency)
This idea of the loss of innocence is explored again the poem “Out, Out-“, albeit in a
very different way. This poem tells the story of a young boy working on his father’s farm
who loses his hand and subsequently his life because of his inability to control a
motorised saw. While the poet depicts the fragility of life in a detached tone of voice the
suggestion is that he believes the pointless death of the boy could have been averted if he
had been out at play rather than doing the job of an adult before his time. Here the cycle
of life seems to have taken an unnatural turn –
‘big boy doing a man’s work, though a child at heart – he saw all spoiled.’
The detached tone suggests that life goes on despite disruptions in the natural cycle of life
and that death is an intrinsic part of life with which we all must deal at some point –
‘and they, since they were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.’
Although the language in this poem is cold I enjoyed it because I think it aptly reflects
the point the poet is trying to make.
In the poem “After Apple Picking” Frost again explores mortality but in what I would
consider a more normal journey through adult life towards death as an aged man. The
whole poem can be taken as a metaphor for the poet’s life and work and uses very
sensuous language to portray the theme. He describes the feeling of a worker after a
day’s apple-picking. He seems to be something of a perfectionist as he worries that he
may have missed some apples – maybe there are some good poems the poet failed to
write. The picker has been so immersed in his work that the smell of apples leads him
into sleep during which he dreams of the apples and can clearly hear their ‘rumbling
sound’. Such was the length of time that the picker spent on the ladder picking the apples
that he feels unsteady when he steps down from it. Perhaps the poet is suggesting that he
now has a distorted vision of the world because of the time he has spent analysing it as is
surely the job of a poet –
‘I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight
I got from looking through a pane of glass.’
But as he approaches old age and death he admits to being ‘overtired of the great harvest
I myself desired.’ This to me again suggests that he is in some way dissatisfied with his
life’s work and his struggle to write all the poems he knew he wanted to –
‘there were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch.’
However, he also displays a great fondness for his work and the products of his work
which, if he were an apple picker he would – ‘cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.’
But as is inherent to the cycle of life everyone must experience good times and bad and
to the poet the bad products of his work are thrown onto the cider heap like bruised
apples ‘as of no worth.’ It seems that his failures are more memorable to him than his
successful poems and will continue to bother him to his death –
‘one can see what will trouble this sleep of mine, whatever sleep is.
It is as though he is almost beckoning death as he is too tired to continue thinking about
life. In this way the life of a poet seems to me to be rather depressing and in some ways
I feel frustrated for him because although he is obviously not satisfied, I get tremendous
satisfaction from reading his poetry. These three poems that touch on the idea of life
and death are all excellent examples of how the poet utilises metaphorical language to
examine his ideas in more depth. As reader, it allows me to delve into the thoughts of the
poet and gain an insight into his philosophy on life while simultaneously enjoying his
vivid descriptions of man within nature.
It is through such descriptions of man within nature that Frost explores another central
idea in his poetry, that of relationships. He uses images of man in natural settings to
examine the idea of how man relates to nature and how he relates to his peers. The poem
“Tuft of Flowers” deals with both these ideas. The speaker in the poem is a man whose
job entails turning the grass after it has been mown. Straight away we learn that his job
in intrinsically linked to that of another – the mower. Although the two colleagues
never meet the speaker strives to make a connection with the mower –
‘I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.’
The use of assonance in the long /ee/ sounds suggest to me a sense of yearning on the
part of the speaker, perhaps for company.
‘but he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been, - alone.’
Again the solitude of the speaker could be a metaphor for the solitude of the poet but it
seems that such isolation affords both of them the time to take a closer and more
appreciative look at nature. On so doing the speaker’s attention is turned towards ‘a
bewildered butterfly.’ This is a moment of epiphany for the speaker who could easily
have missed the butterfly and message it had for him –
‘but he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,’
So amidst the ‘levelled scene’ of destruction the mower spared one tuft of flowers beside
a brook. Again the flowers could easily have been overlooked by the speaker had he
gone about his work as usual but now that the butterfly has pointed them out he takes a
closer look and finds them to be ‘butterfly weed’. Refreshed from his new found
appreciation of his natural surroundings the speaker now begins to ‘hear the wakening
birds around’ and it seems his senses are awakened. Not only does the speaker now
appreciate the beauty around him but he now feels the connection to the mower that he
had earlier searched for –
‘and feel a spirit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;’
This epiphany now leads him to believe that –
“‘men work together…whether they work together or apart’”.
He no longer needs the mower’s physical presence to know that he is with him in
spirit. There is a great sense of hope in this poem and it is symbolised for me both in the
butterfly, which acts as a medium between man and nature, and, the tuft of flowers
which symbolises the connection between people and the relationship between people
who work together as part of a greater cycle.
This idea is further developed in the poem “Mending Wall”. The cycle of nature again
brings two people together – this time it is two neighbours who come together at the
same time every year to mend the wall that divides their property. The speaker in this
poem doesn’t really see the need for their annual endeavour especially as neither farmer
has any animals that could wander into each other’s land but his neighbour insists that –
‘good fences make good neighbours.’
The speaker is curious to know why this is true and sees that his neighbour is merely
repeating a principle that has been passed on to him and that he has never really
considered it himself. Because of his neighbour’s inability to think for himself the
speaker likens him to a cave man ‘like an old-stone savage’. From this we get an insight
into the poet’s thoughts on the necessity of man’s questioning old beliefs and how his
doing so has resulted in the development of civil society. I think the poet thinks that the
success of civil society is due to the importance of respecting strict boundaries. However
I think he believes that a physical boundary should not be necessary for humans as it is
for untrained animals that are not developed in intellect. To me this exposes his
neighbour’s ignorance and lack of forward thinking which I can see is a fundamental
part of being a poet. I really enjoyed Frost’s inspection of this idea. Daily we meet
people in life who do not think the same way as us and while it can be frustrating it is
hugely important to respect their difference in order to maintain civil society. I think
Frost was lucky that he could vent his frustrations through his poetry but unfortunate that
the writing of poetry often left him frustrated.
As a poet Frost does seem to have felt drained by his life’s work and even debates
whether he made the right career choice at all in the poem “The Road Not taken” –
‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both.’
But as a reader of his poetry I got great satisfaction from his fascinating exploration
of universal ideas of the life, death, man and nature which, I would argue, anyone can
relate to in some way. Although his use of metaphorical and symbolic language can be
deeply complex at times he depicts ordinary occurrences in life and nature with
beautifully vivid, yet accessible language that can be enjoyed by everyone. I personally
thoroughly enjoyed deciphering his metaphors and exploring his ideas with him but I
think I will remember his poems more for the vivid images they created in my mind of
meadows, trees, woods, farms and so much more. So it is with some certainty that I can
say that I enjoyed Robert Frost’s poetry for its language and ideas.