...Robert Frost is known as one of America’s great poets, with this known he still has a dark side and somewhat terrifying side to his poems as well. Erin Brescia states “One of the reasons Robert’s Frost poetry is enjoyed is his ability to capture the reality of everyday living in a language that is accessible to the average reader” and that his poems are just everyday people doing everyday things, such as jobs, chores and work. I have read many of Frosts poems and agree this is true, but with this fact some of his poems pertaining to jobs have a very dark outcome. Erin cites the poem “Putting in the seed” explaining how the narrator loves planting apple seeds and knows someone will soon get him for dinner and try to stop him, but will probably in the end will also take pleasure in planting seeds. Also cited is “The Pasture” where Erin States “the narrator has a list of chores that must be accomplished” like raking leaves and checking on a calf. These poems deal with regular people and everyday life, which is one of the themes in Frost work. Frost has other poems that deal with just everyday life such as “The Road Not Taken”, this poem is about a man who comes to a fork in the path and decides to take the path that is less traveled, but as he does, thinks about the other path and what gifts it may hold, and how in the future he may be able to come back and take that other path. Again another poem about everyday life, while this poem does not fit with many themes of jobs...
Words: 817 - Pages: 4
...Robert Frost is one of the most famous poet’s, winning four Pulitzers Prizes, and even reciting one of his poems at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Frost was born in San Francisco, but spent most of his life in New England, as a teacher and farmer, in rural New Hampshire. Frost often uses natural elements in his poetry, especially New England landscapes. He uses seasons, flowers, fields, stars, and time of day to set a logical sequence of events to paint a psychological feeling inside the reader’s mind. Two of Robert Frost’s poems, “Desert Places” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, take readers through a New England winter setting, reflecting the beautiful scenery through his descriptive imagery. However, even though these two poems are set in a wintry backdrop, they convey very different tones. One has a feeling of loneliness, and the other a welcoming feeling of solitude. In this paper, I intend to illustrate how two very similar natural settings are written to express two very different themes of loneliness. The poems “Desert Places” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” have quite a few similarities. For instance, they both share the same rhythmic scheme; A,A,B,A. They both are set in a snowy, evening where darkness is taking over quickly. In both poems there is a man traveling alone, where no other souls are around. There is a sense that both travelers are stepping away from life for a brief moment in time. The contrast of darkness and whiteness...
Words: 1058 - Pages: 5
...Robert Frost and Shaun Tan use different mediums and techniques in order to represent similar ideas about journeys. Journeys can lead to self-growth. Choice, change, discoveries and new experiences can all result in having undertaken a journey. Shaun Tan and Robert Frost have each explored these ideas in their texts The Arrival and The Road Not Taken. In Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, Frost conveys his perspective on the journey through the use of a variety of language techniques. Journeys involve choices, which can slightly or significantly alter the paths we take in life as the poem consists of two roads which metaphorically represent choices. “ Two roads diverged ... and that has made all the difference” demonstrates how the author has learned to take responsibility for the choices he has made in life and is content that choices make who we are. Robert Frost uses several techniques such as metaphors, repetition and symbolism. Repetition displays the character’s frustration towards making choices and symbolism shows the unseeable end to this path being taken. The main technique used is metaphor as the whole poem represents the journey of life and the choices that are a part of it. The journeys in life we take can lead to choices that change our life forever. Throughout a journey an individual must make a variety of choices. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost clearly shows the composer’s thoughts on making choices throughout a journey. In the first stanza of the...
Words: 515 - Pages: 3
...“Miles to go before I sleep” Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, is a few lines describing a man’s horse ride through the woods, but it speaks to everyone who reads it about major questions concerning their lives. In Stanley Burnshaw’s Biography, “Robert Frost”, he said, “In the great short lyrics of New Hampshire (1923) and West-Running Brook (1928)—such as “Fire and Ice,” “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” and the title poem of the latter book—a bleak outlook on life persuasively emerges from the combination of dramatic tension and nature imagery freighted with ambiguity”. Frost was a powerful poet who used metaphors and imagery in his writings; for that reason most of his written work is discussed at the academic level and his work can often be...
Words: 1347 - Pages: 6
...Mending Wall, by Robert Frost portrays the routines of two neighbors who are constantly mending the fence, or wall, that separates their properties. If a stone is missing from the fence, you can bet that the two men are out there putting it back together piece by piece. Frost presents to the reader the ideas of barriers between people, communication, friendship and the sense of security people gain from barriers. Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 in California. He became interested in poetry after moving to Massachusetts at the age of eleven. His first published poem was My Butterfly in 1894. A year later, Frost married Elinor Miriam White. They moved to England where Robert met Ezra Pound, a poet who helped get the word out about Frost’s talent. Three years later Robert and Elinor moved back to the United States where Frost was already known after having published two collections, one named North of Boston. Mending Wall was part of this collection. During his writing career in poetry, Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes. After running a farm in New England, Frost’s writing became heavily influenced by the beautiful landscape around him. His writing often included nature. He appeared to write about situations individuals find themselves in no matter the time period. Robert Faggen states, "As a narrative poet, Frost is considered accessible for students and poetry readers of all ages. A close analysis of Frost's poems, however, reveals that Frost indeed is a deceptively simple...
Words: 1112 - Pages: 5
...Frost, Where the Road Brings Us #201337029 English 1080 Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray similarities in themes of the weight of realities, while taken place in a setting of nature. Each are about experiences in life in “The Road Not Taken” the speaker is youthful, making the decision to last a lifetime metaphorically portrayed by an autumn forest. He must overcome his mentality to succumb from the more beaten path in a road, showing his uniqueness to take the other. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” where as Frost uses an older speaker, more grizzled and experienced in life. The speaker also experiencing a choice, seeking a life without struggle in isolation he then reflects upon his responsibility towards the society. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker stumbles upon a choice that will effect him forever. The poems talk of the speaker coming to a fork in his path, whereas now he has to choose one way or the other. This intersection in the road is a metaphor to all the decisions we have to make in life, and how easily it could alter with just by starting down a new path. The speaker thinks about his choices and feels that whatever path he takes; he will have to take for good. The speaker feels strongly that he must think really hard upon what path to take, so he doesn’t end up regretting his choice. “And looked down the road as far as I could...
Words: 1006 - Pages: 5
...ROBERT FROST Born on the day of March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California, Robert Lee Frost was one of America’s most famous poets. Frost received four Pulitzer Prizes before he died in 1963. The first one in 1924 for New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes, then in1931 for Collected Poems, in 1937 for A Further Range, and the last on in 1943 for A Witness Tree. Married to Elinor Miriam White, who was his co-valedictorian at high school, he lived in various locations throughout his life, in San Francisco, California for the first ten years of his life, then moved to New England where he lived most of his years; he also lived in Great Britain for three years where he met Edward, T. E. Hulme and Ezra Pound. Pound would become the first American to write a review of Frost's work; it was also in England that Frost wrote some of his best work. Robert Frost attended Dartmouth College, where he stayed for a little over a semester, and also Harvard University for two years. Robert Frost grew up in a state of turmoil. From his tumultuous childhood right up until his death, Frost was a character who could speak at Harvard and live on a farm in New Hampshire. He could dazzle the brightest students with poetic ingenious, but boil life down to, “It’s hard to get into this world and hard to get out of it. And what’s in between doesn’t make much sense. If that sounds pessimistic, let it stand”. Robert Frost’s poems “Mending Wall” and “The Road Not Taken” both exemplify the struggle...
Words: 3370 - Pages: 14
...Devin Murray English 101 Professor Molitoris March 18, 2014 A Breakdown of Two Small But Powerful Poems Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” poem and Gwendolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool” are ten lines or less but are poems that are extremely powerful and influential. Robert Frost talks about death but if the world ended, how would an individual want to die. Would an individual rather die by burning to death or being frozen to death? Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem is about a group of young black men who have no potential or future. All in all these poems have a vivid sense of imagery, an inspirational theme, and an odd rhyme scheme and meter. Although these two poems have two completely different subjects, they make you think and actually begin to questions certain aspects of life. In Brooks’ she sets the scene along with her characters and setting before even starting the poem. She lets know the characters are seven pool players, at the Golden Shovel. The Golden Shovel is a metaphor for these teenagers digging their own grave, when they’re supposed to be having fun, because they’re in their golden years. In lines 2-4 of her poem she talks about how the teenagers dropped out of school, stay out late, and that they commit crimes head on. This is a great example of imagery, because one can easily imagine young African-American kids not having anything to do after they dropped out of school and start to do illegal things. Therefore Brooks’ gave a great name for the setting, the Golden Shovel...
Words: 720 - Pages: 3
...Poetry assignment By: Bleon Acquainted with the night By: Robert frost I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain. I have out walked the furthest city light. I have looked down the saddest city lane. I have passed by the watchman on his beat and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet When far away an interrupted cry Came over houses from another street, But not to call me back or say good-bye; And further still at an unearthly height, A luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. I have been one acquainted with the night. Analysis The man in this story has walked at night a lot. He’s walked both away and back, probably his home, in the rain. He has walked out in to the city, and past the lights, maybe out of the city, and he’s looked down lonely, dark streets. The man has walked by a watch man, and look at him because he didn’t want to say why he was there, not even with a glance. The man stops because he wants to listen to a voice calling from the other street. He hoped the voice was calling for him. The man looks up at a clock, which probably is the moon, he was not satisfied with the time it showed. He ends by referring to the first line of the poem. I picked this picture for the poem because it connects so well with the poem...
Words: 774 - Pages: 4
...Robert Frost (1874-1963) was the leading modern American poet of nature and rural life. He found beauty and meaning in commonplace objects, such as a drooping birch tree and an old stone wall, and drew universal significance from the experiences of a farmer or a country boy. Most of his poems have a New England setting and deal with the theme of man's relationship to nature. The influence of nature in Robert Frost's works creates a palette to paint a picture filled with symbolism for the reader to interpret. In the analysis of Frost's The Road Not Taken, Tree At My Window, Two Trumps In The Mud Time and Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening we can pick out specific examples to illustrate Frost's overall use of nature. In the first stanza of Robert Frost's Stopping by the Woods on A Snowy Evening we find the speaker reflecting on the beauty of a wooded area with snow falling. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. You can feel the speakers awe and reflective peace when looking into the woods that night. He doesn't know the owner of the land but is still drawn to the beauty of the scene. Nature poet Robert Frost gives a scene that is taken into the reader and digested for a time in the speaker's mind. It shows us that it is all right to take a minute out of a hurried hour and reflect upon what is around you, whether it is a snowy wood or a quite room....
Words: 2773 - Pages: 12
...Nothing Gold Can Stay (Frost) VS. I Used to Live Here Once (Rhys) Jason W. Miller Ashford University ENG125: Introduction to Literature Professor Patricia Lake December 3, 2012 Death and impermanence is always full of sorrow. I have chosen Death and Impermanence as my theme to discuss, not because of tragedy I’ve experienced, but instead because it’s an interestingly complex theme. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “I Used to Live Here Once” could not be no more different in their visual form than they already are; however, they both represent the theme through common emotions and mood of the literary works. Throughout my essay I will explain the relevance of the two works, and authors, as well as the differences. The formalist approach will be my choice of critical analysis of the two works, which will aid in forming my comparison and contrast of both works as well. “The poem of the Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is discussing the beauty of life’s wonderful but short-lived treasures, as example chasing dreams and spending time with loved ones. It is illustrated by Frost those treasures in the world related to the nature through the use of metaphors, imagery, diction, and allusion. The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” helps open one’s eyes to the harsh realities of nature’s path and although we must all succumb to the laws of nature, it is these unbreakable laws that make life so treasured (Shmoop, 2010). On the other side the literature “I Used to Live Here...
Words: 2616 - Pages: 11
...Beauty, Life and Death Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening” is a simple and literal poem that has been interpreted and emphasized in many different ways. Frost tells a simple story that manages to get any reader to think about its scene and how profound this story can actually be. Many different opinions have been expressed as to what the poet was trying to convey in these lines; happiness, life, or maybe even death. The poem was written during the early 20th century, around the 1920s. According to an analysis done on this poem: “...Frost wrote the poem on a hot summer day...” (Gualdoni 2). Quite an interesting piece of information that questions why Frost would use a season opposite to the one he was currently writing through. The poem itself is written in iambic tetrameter so that 4 lines are grouped together in each stanza. There is a visible rhyme scheme and figures of speech that coexist within the piece. The first two lines in a stanza rhyme with each other while the third line stands to temporarily disrupt the balance, only to be followed by a fourth line with a rhyme that will match the previous two. A broad sense of imagery invites the reader to his/her imagination and calmly surrounds them in that cold winter night. In the woods with just his horse, the snow and a frozen lake, is a simple setting the poet used for this piece. The first few lines display a character that is in the middle of nowhere and mentions of an unknown person that the “woods”...
Words: 1518 - Pages: 7
...Depression is a mental state of distraught, but can be easily overcome with a strong sense of hope. Additionally, the state of being alone contributes to somber feelings and emotions that are difficult to ridicule. In “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, the ideas of being gloomy and isolated are expressed through the powerful use of imagery and symbolism. The symbolic use of rain and night reflect on the ongoing sadness portrayed by Frost. Conversely, the somber feelings are greatened by the use of indicating that the speaker felt alone, mentally and physically. As the speaker searched for someone to care for him, he was never successful. Moreover, the saddened man made a realization that all humans need to grasp. He understood that...
Words: 284 - Pages: 2
...Name Professor Course Date Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice interpretation analysis and techniques Introduction Fire and Frost are a poem written by Robert Frost that brings distinction between two things that destroy the world (Little, 176). Simple language that portrays significant meaning of hatred and desire is evident in the poem. The poem says the world will end with fire and at the same time with ice. The narrator states that he has tested desire and stood with those who favor fire. However, when it comes to perishing for by two things; he only thinks of hate as the second option. That is the destruction by ice. He sees an ice as a great destruction just like fire. The poem ends by showing that both ice and fire destructs. Fire and ice are expression of authority anxiety to get identity (O’ Brien, 29). The poem displays two darkest traits of humanity that is; the capacity of hate as ice and capacity to be consumed by desire or lust as the fire (Little, 175). As to the desire, it demonstrates aspects such as greed and jealousy that destroys the world. Greed and jealousy are things that affect one’s emotion and mind to think clearly. Once the two aspects overwhelm one, he or she becomes restless. The two things are like fire that keep on burning in the mind and become difficult to be stop until a particular agenda is achieved; like murder. Jealousy and greed are the things that destroy the world in recent days. People kill each other because of jealousy of their fellow...
Words: 609 - Pages: 3
...Fire and Ice Will the world ever come to an end? And if so, should it end in fire or in ice? These two core questions are raised while reading Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice”. But just for a moment, if we were to take the physical world out of context and replace it with those who live in it, then maybe there is something more to it. Maybe the physical world will not end in such tragic ways, but perhaps society will. These two powerful elements, fire and ice, that are on complete opposite sides of the spectrum, somehow bring out a thought-provoking process about the deterioration of society. The two elements that Frost incorporates into his poem are very vital to its analysis. Fire can symbolize many things negatively as well as positively. The negative affiliations with fire include chaos, war, ruin, and destruction. Few years prior to the American Revolution, there was a chaotic clashing between American colonists and the British because of heavily imposed taxes, thus, portraying an unorganized and hostile society. Plenty of wars have occurred on this earth because of societies. Ruin and destruction also exemplify the notion of this idea. After the tragic 9/11 incident in the United States, many Americans developed such a hatred for the Muslim people (and vice versa) to the point where racism was deemed acceptable. The actions were responsible in the production of one society against another leaving practically no lee-way for peace. Although these characteristics...
Words: 1166 - Pages: 5
