Reccuring Themes of Robert Frost's Poems

-Reflective tone

-Seasons-represent various stages of life

-Unconventional rhyming and Free Verse

-Older, wiser speakers discussing young subjects

-Imagination vs. Reality

-Decision Making-(how there never is a second chance in life)

-Farm life vs. Industrial Life contrast

-Lonliness and Depression

-Dark vs. Light

-Love of nature

-Appreciation of small things that others take for granted

 

Frost Poetry (Steve's summary on The Pasture, Mending Wall, After Apple-Picking, The Wood-Pile, The Road Not Taken, Birches)

 

"Fire and Ice"

-about having two choices-"perish twice" (similar to "the Road not Taken")

     -science (ice) vs. religion (fire)

-flippant tone, poking fun but it is a serious subject

-theme of destruction

-there needs to be a balance between desire and hate for the world to survive

-alliteration "world will" and "favor fire"

-rhyme scheme=ABAABCBCB

 

 

"Dust of Snow"

-the speaker is bothered by something at the beginning of the poem

-contrast, dark (crow, hemlock tree) vs. light (snow)

     -about finding good in dark moments

-the snow saved the speaker from a day he had been dreading

-nature theme

-tone is not as bitter or flippant as some of the other poems

-the poem is lightened by its rhythm (rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD)

 

"Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening"

-Speaker is thinking about death but he still has things he has to accomplish

     -seasons of life-he is stopping to look back over his life, he is close to death (winter)

-stopping to appreciate nature and life

-he is not afraid of sollitude but it is not his time to die yet

-"woods and frozen lake"=he is between life and death, woods=life, frozen lake=death

-"harness bells a shake"=the horse is a reminder that he has to keep moving on

-hypnotic tone, falling into sleep, sing-songy

-there is a contrast between the city and woods, regret of not being able to live in both-paradox

 

"Design"

-moth and spider=death and unhappiness

-speaker does not feel comfortable with death

-rigid satin=oxymoron, funeral cloth

-white=usually purity but there is a twist

-"heal-all" is supposed to heal, but it doesn't

 

"Unharvested"

-Description of an apple tree whose fallen apples remain untouched

-Complex rhyme scheme

-apple tree with apples unharvested by humans=rare sight

          a. "circle of solid red"-spontaneity of nature is beautiful

-conflict of city vs. nature- (apple symbolizes a double-edged sword)- nature is beautiful but progress sometimes requires destruction of nature

-unharvested apples symbolize life- it is all right to let some things go.

          a. "That had eased itself of its summer load"- forgetting a tragic past frees one's burden.

 

"Acquainted with the Night"

-theme of depression, lonliness, and hopelessness 

-night=symbol for depression

-terza rima (rhyming scheme)

-"Outwalked the furthest city light"-speaker has lost his way in life

-watchmen reminds speaker of a bad decision in life. Makes him feel guilty.

-"interrupted cry"=hope and aid. But it is not calling for him=lonliness

-luminary clock=god. Whether the speaker likes it or not, it is time for his death.

-Poem represents the fate of the American Dream during the Great Depression.

 

"A Minor Bird" 

-the speaker rejects the bird, but cannot figure out why he does

-a minor key is sad-sounding 

     -the bird's sound makes the speaker remember bad things

-melancholy tone

-there is a transformation of the narrator, lack of appreciation=>self-reflection

-showing humans take things for granted

-is the bird intruding, or are humans intruding in nature?

 

"The Need of Being Versed in Country Things" 

-looking at the remnants of a burnt down farmhouse

-tone=grim and pessimistic

-the narrator sees the house as burnt down and useless, but the birds see it as a nest and do not notice the destruction

     -shows the disparity between humans and nature

-shows that life goes on

-5th stanza, "And the"=anaphora

-"like a pistil after the petals go"=similie

 

"A Considerable Speck"

-title=oxymoron

-white paper=pure-contrast to the mite (a blemish)

     a. speaker comes to appreciate the mite

-small things have big impacts

-"cunning crept"-alliteration emphasizes darker tone transformation in the middle of the poem

     a. the poem then returns to a lighter playful tone

-poem represents different ways of thinkings

     a. the second stanza shows how the speaker (who reflects Frost's belief) embraces all ideas and appreciates difference

-"modern world is being swept"-modern world is destroying little things that we appreciate

-thinks the speck is dust then realizes it is a living creature 

          -things aren't always what they seem to be 

-the speaker takes God's perspective--the fate of the mite is in his hands 

-shows we should slow down and appreciate little things 

-similar to "Minor Bird", doesn't appreciate the mite at first

 

"My November Guest"

-rhyme scheme=ABAAB 

-the sorrow comes in November 

-theme of seasons of life 

          -waiting for snow=death