Robert Frost Essay, Research Paper

Five Great Pieces of Thought

I think Robert Frost is a understandable, but yet an unconventional poet. Frost wrote in his own style, and as a result, he took quite a bit of heat from the critics of his period. Frost has an elegant style of writing descriptive and understandable poems. I am going to tell you about the five best pieces he has ever written.

First off, "A Considerable Speck" is a unusual poem about Frost noticing a tiny speck on his paper. Upon further observation, Frost notices that the speck is actually a extremely tiny mite, struggling to avoid being crushed by Frost?s pen. Frost appreciates the insect?s battle to stay alive and leaves it on his paper. Frost allows the mite to sleep on his paper because he values any intelligence, even one that is small as a bug?s. This poem is told directly from Robert Frost?s mouth. It shows how much the poet appreciates the little things in life. Regardless of size Frost understands that a life is a life, and all lives are important. The imagery in this poem is very clear to me. I can picture an old man trying to blow a piece of dirt off the paper. Then the piece of dirt starts moving, as he sees what he believes to be a dot on the paper but really to be a mite. The old man then starts to think about the value of life. The theme of the poem is that there is no such thing as an insignificant speck. Everything and everyone has a purpose for being here. This poem is filled with alliteration. Some examples I found are: cunning crept, tenderer-than-thou, and breathing blown (Silberner 98). Mind is repeated three times in the final stanza. Also there were two instances in which Frost used assonance room for and living mite. The rhyme scheme of the first stanza of "A Considerable Speck" is AABBCCDADEEFGFGHH, but there is no pattern throughout the poem (Silberner 99).

Next I would like to tell you about is "Ghost House". It is an remarkably descriptive poem illustrating an aged, haunted house. The imagery in this poem is marvelous. This poem allows the reader to see the house as if he were standing on the front porch. You can picture an old decrepit house, covered with vines and wild raspberries. There is a dying tree in the front yard, with only one vital branch on it. Beneath the tree there are two gravestones so covered in moss that the names cannot be deciphered. Right next to the gravestones is a ghostly couple, standing stalk still and completely silent. On the front porch the current owner stands frozen, half by fear and half by curiosity. The poem is told through the eyes of the current resident of the house. The owner somewhat scared of his unwanted company. However, the owner?s feeling toward the couple seems to turn towards the end of the poem. It almost sounds as if he feels sorry for them, when he mentions how they stand together quietly. The theme of "Ghost House" seems to be that love can survive anything, even when the body does not. Although the couple has passed away, they still remain together. Another theme in this poem could be not to judge a book by its cover. At first the house?s owner seems to fear the ghosts, but he eventually comes to respect the relationship that they still share. This poem is filled to the verge with alliteration. For example: small dim summer star, low-limbed tree, and mosses mar (Silberner 109). Summer is said in the second line of the poem with being repeated in the second to last stanza and also in the fourth stanza the word say is repeated three times within two lines (Silberner 109). The rhyme scheme of "Ghost House" is AABBA CCDDC and that pattern continues for every stanza (Silberner 110). The alliteration and the rhyme scheme of this poem make it flow very smoothly.

"Fire and Ice" is a poem about how the world will end. Frost is debating with himself as to whether or not the world will be destroyed by fire or ice. Frost seems as if he is deeply entrenched in thought about whether the earth will become a flaming ball or a gigantic ice cube. I see this poem being told directly by Robert Frost. It tells me that Frost analyzed every idea that popped into his head. No wonder he graduated as co-valedictorian of his class. The imagery of this poem is in the destruction of the world. It takes a little imagination but I can picture the earth as a new sun. I can also picture the earth totally covered by a massive sheet of ice. The theme of "Fire and Ice" is that although nature can be gorgeous, it can also be quite destructive. Not only can it devastate a person?s house and all his possessions but also it can destroy the whole world. Contrary to the previous two poems I can only find one alliteration in "Fire and Ice" is to favor fire (Gioia and Kennedy 85). The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABAABCBCB. This poem is brief, but gets to the point (Silberner 78). This poem reminds me of the bud light commercial when the two groups of people say, "tastes great no less filling". The reason why is because there are two sides to fire or ice.

"The Oven Bird" shows that although Frost usually analyzes everything, he is capable of enjoying nature. Frost seems to have admired birds more than any other animal, for they are the topic of several of his poems. Frost not only appreciates birds? ability to sing, but also their beauty when they remain silent. The imagery of this poem is a small bird sitting peacefully on a branch on a hot summer day. There is a young bird watcher observing its every move. The poem is told by the bird watcher. The theme of "The Oven Bird" is that all objects should be accepted as what they are. Frost expresses his belief that nature deserves attention and gratitude. Yet again, this poem is full of alliteration. For example: has heard, for flowers, and be as other birds (Silberner 120). There are three examples of assonance: Diminished thing, name the fall, and for flowers (Silberner 120). The words mid-summer, bird, and sing are repeated throughout the poem so, the rhyme scheme of "The Oven Bird" is AABCBDCDEEFCEF (Silberner 121). This poem reminds me of my father: every morning he will get up and watch the birds at the bird feeder in our backyard.

Finally, "The Road Not Taken" is a poem about how Frost chose the road in writing that not many writers had dared to venture into. This poem is all about Frost?s adventurous side and how he is a leader, not a follower. Obviously, Frost saw something he did not like about the poetry of his time. Basically, this poem is the story of Robert Frost?s life. The speaker in this poem takes the figure of a young traveler. The traveler seems young and adventurous, and to traditionalists somewhat of a rebel. However, he only wanted a change of scenery and, therefore, chose the path less traveled. The imagery is that of a young hiker standing at a fork in the road, debating whether to take the nice clear path or the wooded area. The young status seeker has no desire to follow the path of his predecessors and chooses the scenic route. The theme of "The Road Not Taken" is that it is always better to be a leader and not a follower. Basically, Frost is telling the reader to follow his or her desire and do what one feels is right. Don?t let anyone keep you from doing what you want to do. There is only one example of alliteration this poem, wanted wear (Gioia and Kennedy 260). I can also only find one instance where Frost uses assonance, ages hence. The word wood and travel are repeated in the first and the last stanzas so, the rhyme scheme is ABAAB CDCCD (Gioia and Kennedy 260). I feel this was a very touching poem to me because I was always taught to be my own person and I thank my parents for that.

Robert Frost?s life started out quite different than most people. He never had any formal schooling until he was the age of twelve years old. This wasn?t the way you would think a famous writer would start off his life. The even awkward part of this story is that he graduated Lawrence High School as co-valedictorian of his graduating class. When I saw that I was very struck. I realized that changing is all up to one person and that one person is you. Robert Frost?s life took drastic changes and as a result of this his poetry varies quite a bit (Silberner 192). At the time he was writing his more depressing poems, he was having trouble getting his poems published, and he was doing oddball jobs to make ends meet (Gioia and Kennedy 522). His more upbeat poems were not created until after magazines began printing his work. Robert Frost is a simple, yet powerful poet. He uses small, understandable words, which show very powerful meanings. The main reason why I appreciate Frost?s work is because I can understand it, which is more than I can say for the majority of poetry that I have read.