Robert Frost: The Dark Side - Research Paper Example

Lecturer: Robert Frost: The Dark Side Introduction Robert Frost is usually considered as a poet of nature with terms like flowers, orchards, fire and rolling hills being some of the important elements of his poems. These elements of nature offer a different way of looking at the world and are typically used metaphorically to create a description of a darker view of human beings and nature. In Frost’s poems, their depth has the same significance as their surface with the darker elements of the poems being depicted using vivid imagination, symbolism as well as carefully selected words. His poems have a simple surface, but upon further scrutiny, they reveal some degree of elusiveness as the poet employs ordinary objects in the creation of deeper meanings. Robert Frost: The dark side The poems done by Robert Frost are often marked by some degree of sadness and regardless of the fact that the poet profoundly appreciated natural scenery; he had an awareness of the harsh realities of life. The poet’s work originated from explorations of ordinary occurrences and places with deep meanings and pathos. Even though at first glance poems like Mending Wall and The Tuft and Flowers can be perceived at a literal level, a deeper observation reveals that that the poems are intensely metaphorical, interesting and very philosophical (Montiero). Through his work, the poet is able to elicit a broad range of emotions in the readers that vary from sadness to shock. He uses a language that he considers “the sound of sense” along with an exceptional use of tone that enables the readers to become involved with every poem thereby creating a connection with them. Therefore, the poet can be considered as a person of sadness who an express the shock of the death of a child, in Out, Out and remark on the impermanence of life, in After Apple Picking. Additionally, he provides the readers of his poems with some insights tonto meanings of life that are both captivating and intriguing. Out, Out Dark and harsh actualities of life can be deduced from Out, Out, which is a profoundly shocking poem filled with sadness whose inspiration was the terrible demise of a young boy (Faggen 3). This poem can be considered as unsettling since the poet describes the accident in the farm in a brutal and explicit manner stating explicitly the snarling and rattling of the buzz saw in the yard. Straightway, the poet expresses the risks and the unforgiving characteristics of the saw using onomatopoeia. In the entire poem is filled with a tense and dramatic mood that ends in a disturbing depicting of the boy attempting to protect himself from being harmed by the saw. He states how the boy hold up his hand as a way of making sure that he remains alive and this can be implied to highlight the severity of the accident that is further illustrated by the fact that the small boy was doing a job meant for a man. It can be concluded that the aim of the poem was to warn the readers of the dangers of growing up too fast, as it can be perceived that the boy in this poem lost his innocence at a tender age. Generally, a touching and emotional poem brings out the notion that even though human being share the earth, every person is on his own, which is brought out towards the end of the poem. The response of the neighbors is also rather worrying since they just continue with what they were doing, ignoring the horrible tragedy that has taken place (Faggen 3). This poem conjures a lot of sadness and pity from the manner in which the poet is able to capture aspects of life and work as well as the delicateness and pithiness that accentuate it. Acquainted with the Night The portrayal of seclusion and lonesomeness can also be seen in Acquainted with the Night, which is a Shakespearean sonnet that demonstrates Frosts disconnect with the city while at the same time displaying his lack of expectation and incomprehension (Wilcox and Barron 226). It can be considered that in this poem, Frost explores his personal consciousness as he portrays the city as an ascetic and unwelcoming place by stating, “I have walked out in rain and back in the rain” (Frost). In this case, the constant rain can be perceived to represent the manner in which Frost perceives the city, as an uninviting and miserable place that does not inspire optimism. The poem has a depressing monotonous tone that reveals the loneliness of the poet. The poet refers to the manner in which an uninterrupted cry could be heard all the way from another street, but there is no relation between the poet and the unknown speaker and there was no contact whatsoever between them. Without a doubt, this sad and moving poem carries the significant message that it is imperative to seek help when a person feels alone or isolated. When one is walking in darkness, they should always be willing to explain and should not ignore cries; instead, they should always reach out for some help. Yet again, the work of Frost leaves readers with feelings of dejection and despondency while provoking thoughts and making them think more about life. Provide, Provide Inevitability for autonomous thinking and self-competence is addressed in Provide, Provide, which is a poem expressing how time is connected to sadness and done in a scornful tone. At the beginning of the poem, the poet states that the witch who comes was previously the beauty Abishag, which is striking since the beauty Abishag is compared to the woman who is ageing. In the same manner, “picture pride of Hollywood” is utilized to demonstrate triviality and insignificance making the two images portray that everything all aspects fade while particular truths remain eternal and unchallengeable (Lehman 234). This creates a miserable and concrete aspect in the temporary nature associated with beauty and youth that cannot be avoided. Nonetheless, the use of tone by the poet is an appealing characteristic of the poem and he states that a person should die early to in order to avoid the fate, and if a person wants to live a long life, he should ensure that the entire stock exchange is his. It is observable that the poet is speaking in a sarcastic manner, as there is an encompassing tone of sarcasm in the entire poem. Nevertheless, similar to all his other poems, this poem may be perceived from a metaphorical viewpoint, since under the cynicism, there are truths and purpose. Through stating “what worked for them might for you”, it is easy to see that Frost is paradoxically warning of the dangers of over reliance and imitation while encouraging people to be self-dependent and unique (Lehman 234). Design In most cases, Frost wrote about nature and in Design, he attempts to communicate how nature can be destructive through a Petrarchan sonnet presenting the dark face associated with the natural world (Tuten and Zubizarreta, p. 226). The poem is filled with images of a moth being engulfed by a spider and the poet states he spotted a dimple spider that was fata and white and this is ironic as the color white is through to represent pureness and innocence, but in this instance, it is representative of dishonesty and death. The poet represents the intolerant characteristics of nature as well as the severity connected to it. Nevertheless, the mood changes as the poem progresses and the poet questions the reasons for such a thing happening through asking the reasons why the spider go to that point and then attracted the moth to the spider’s trap. This may be an explanation on the manner in which the spider and the flower work together in order to trap the moth underscoring the fact that everything that has taken place might have been by design. This poem has an inherent cynicism and doubt as the poet questions if life is predetermined and controlled by design, while further evoking despondency and astonishment. Design also makes the harsh actualities of the world clearer and offers more insight in to the experiences of human beings. Mending Wall The manner in which Robert Frost raises questions that continue to be relevant to the modern reader is among the reasons that make his poems appealing. The poem Mending Wall provides readers with some valued insights into experiences of human beings while describing how farmers come together to repair a wall that had been broken by hunters (Hathaway, Jařab and Melnick 224). He states how the wall was kept between the farmers as they proceeded with the repairs and “to each thee boulders that have fallen”, which might demonstrate the traditions and conventions that bind these men (Frost, Schmidt and Sorenson, p. 46). This poem greatly demonstrates the poet’s capability to think independently and he poses a challenge to his neighbor through asking him why he thinks good fences can make good neighbors. In some way, Frost could be implying that boundaries are unnecessary and therefore lack a solid basis and their rationalization can be considered as mere clichés. It is also imperative to note that the writing of the poem was done in blank verse and this unstructured nature of the could be its sentiment’s reflection as Frost perceives that boundaries and barriers restrict making the free verse style of the poem an expression of autonomous thinking. The sadness that can be seen in this poem differs from the one, which is seen in Acquainted with the Night and Out, Out, as in this poem, the farmer is not able to think independently and thus he continues to cling to the teachings of his father. This creates a sense of pity that is created through a rather mischievous tone use by the poet as likens the farmer to a stone savage. After Apple Picking The connection between experiences of human beings and nature is clearer in After Apple Picking, which demonstrates the manner in which a person’s relation with nature can be inspirational and satisfying, while being supported by encompassing sadness since the poet is nearing his demise. The poet states that he has finished picking apples and “essence of winter sleep is on the night”, where the use of apple picking is used metaphorically to represent the experiences of life with the idealistic descriptions of winter connoting death (Tuten and Zubizarreta 5). It seems that at this point, the poet is exhausted and it is clear that he has had a lot of experiences throughout his life. It might appear that Frost has been greatly inspired by nature as the apples he continually refers to suggest inspiration and resourcefulness, which in one way or another, the nature harvests. The work done in a day from sunrise to sunset symbolizes the journey that a person takes through life up to when the person dies. After Apple Picking is extremely sensual and passionately suggestive as it creates sorrow and pity for Frost since the death, which he refers to as “long sleep”, is near. Conclusion Robert Frost’s poems remain memorable since he utilizes language that is accessible while at the same time exploring themes that continue to be significant for the contemporary reader. His description cannot simply be considered as sad or dark and even though his poems are undeniably emotional and in some instances heartbreaking in the manner in which they depict tragedy, the poems gives the readers much more. The poems are interesting and exceptionally engaging as he writes about nature and the way it can provide insights in to the experiences of human beings. In his poems, Robert Frost reveals that he is aware of the darker side of life and his mental depths of despair come to the fore in various poems including Acquainted with the Night, which may also be seen as a celebration of nature and life and their unity. He evokes thoughts of the questions that lack answers and his notion that poetry starts in enjoyment and culminates in acumen can be directly applied to his work. There is a dark side to Robert Frost’s poetry, which is also characterized by sadness that is portrayed in a shocking and inspiring manner that makes him worth remembering. Works cited Faggen, Robert. The Cambridge Introduction To Robert Frost. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Print. Frost, Robert, Gary D Schmidt, and Henri Sorenson. Robert Frost. New York, NY: Sterling, 2008. Print. Frost, Robert. Acquainted With The Night By Robert Frost : The Poetry Foundation.Poetryfoundation.org. N.p., 2015. Web. 19 May 2015. Hathaway, Heather, Josef Jařab, and Jeffrey Paul Melnick. Race And The Modern Artist. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print. Lehman, David. The Oxford Book Of American Poetry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print. Montiero, George. On "Mending Wall". English.illinois.edu. N.p., 1974. Web. 19 May 2015. Tuten, Nancy Lewis, and John Zubizarreta. The Robert Frost Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print. Wilcox, Earl J, and Jonathan N Barron. Roads Not Taken. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2000. Print. Read More