Robert Frost Poetry Essay, Research Paper

The poetry of Robert Frost contains two major themes of nature: The exploration of beauty and nature, and the interaction between man and nature. The role of these themes will be discussed in ?The Tuft of Flowers?, ?Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening?, ?Once by the Pacific?, and ?The Most of It?.

It has been said many times that ?all men have a common bond, or a thread that joins them together with nature.? Robert Frost?s poem ?The Tuft of Flowers? explores the existence of such a bond, as experienced by the speaker. In the everyday circumstance of performing a common chore, the speaker discovers a sense of brotherhood nature. Frost contrasts a sense of aloneness with a sense of understanding to convey his theme of unity between man and nature.

To understand the setting of the poem, one must first understand how grass was mowed in the time period in which the poem was written (1906). Grass was mostly mowed by hand using a scythe. It was often done in the dew of the morning for better mowing. This left the grass wet, and it needed to be scattered for drying. The phrase ?turning the grass? referred to the scattering of the grass for drying.

In ?The Tuft of Flowers?, the speaker has gone out to turn the grass. Whoever did the mowing is already gone, for there are no signs of his presence. The speaker is alone. Then, a butterfly catches the speaker?s attention, and leads his gaze to a tuft of flowers, which the mower chose to leave intact. The patch of beauty left by his fellow worker causes the speaker to feel that he is no longer alone. There is a sense of understanding between the speaker and the mower, and nature, because an appreciation of beauty unites them.

Frost uses peaceful images to relate the feeling of his poem. The setting is in a grassy field with a brook running through it. The tranquil feeling is added to by a silent butterfly, which searches for a flower upon which to land. In keeping with the peaceful surroundings, Frost speaks of a long scythe ?whispering to the ground,? and of hearing ?wakening birds around.?

?The Tuft of Flowers? does not contain a definite meter, but it does have a strict rhyme scheme. The poem is organized in couplets, each of which contains a single thought. This makes the poem more charming and gives it simplicity, which adds to the overall feeling of peace and tranquility.

Many people consider Robert Frost to be one of America’s greatest poets, and one of his best known poems is “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. In the poem, Frost describes a person stopping just outside of town in a wooded area with his horse. He stops for a moment to appreciate the wonder of the world that he has spent so much time in, something that he may not have done much in his younger years. The horse could be a symbol of the pressures of the rest of the “civilized” world. The horse nudges the speaker on as if “to ask if there is some mistake,” just as society might nudge someone into movement and not understand the necessity of “stopping to smell the roses.” The last three lines of the poem could be the realization that, although the speaker might like to stay in the woods much longer, there are responsibilities that must be attended to and many things that must be completed before the final rest, death, takes him. The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is, therefore, an allegory of life showing the need to enjoy life, the pressures that often keep us from enjoying life, and the unfortunate fact, that most people do not realize what is gone before it is too late. In the hustle and commotion of today’s society, it is often difficult to appreciate the world around us. Many times, due to the pace of our lives, the purity and beauty of nature is often lost in the shuffle. Frost, through his poem, may be pointing out that there is more than just the “nine to five.” The wonder of life, the falling of the leaves, the smell of a flower, the touch of a friend; all of these things are what makes life worth living. These are the “little things” that people mention when reminiscing of the past. The speaker of the poem stands in the cold and admires the beauty that surrounds him, a beauty that he passed without notice on numerous occasions, and although he would like to stay, the pressures that have caused his thoughtlessness in the past are soon to invade again. Frost, in line 7, may be using the symbolism of the horse nudging the speaker as if “to ask if there is some mistake” to show the pressures that are placed on us through our daily lives: society, family, and money. In other words, we must resist the temptation to slow down so that we can be valuable members of society, provide for our family and have the material wealth to show others of our ability. Frost seems to be advising that, although one must normally give in to these pressures, one must make time to revel in the joy of life, or the chance may be taken away. Frost is showing, in a very serious way, that life is too short not to celebrate the awesome beauty of the world around us. The last three lines of this poem are symbolic of the realization that, between being born and dying, there are many things to do. Frost may be showing that, like so many of us, he realizes the completion of responsibilities is the only way to enjoy the pleasures of life. The fact that Frost repeats the last line “and miles to go before I rest” gives a sense of tiredness to the reader. We live our lives through a series of benchmarks. In this one short literary work, Frost seems to point out that so many of us lose out on so much that has been placed on this earth for us to enjoy. Whether that loss is due to the pace at which we live our lives, the pressures from the outside world, or the requirements of our responsibilities. Whatever the reason it is loss that we might not feel until it is too late for us to do anything about it. It seems that Frost is trying to show the reader not to take things for granted as we walk our daily paths, and to stop, just occasionally, and smell the roses.