To Confront Our Problems Is To Live In Happiness Essay, Research Paper

“Neither Out Far Nor In Deep,” by Robert Frost, is a poem in which Frost is stating that when people visit the beach of an ocean, they always stare out towards the waters but never look back towards the land. Even if they can’t see anything, it doesn’t stop them from staring out at the sea. Frost is actually using this poem to symbolize the fact that people try to turn their backs from and ignore their problems or fears by leaving them for a while; but eventually they have to return and face those problems or fears.

The title itself suggests that nothing is ever very far or out of reach whether it is something good or bad, such as fears, worries, or troubles. The title is also foreshadowing the end of the poem. The first two lines of the poem are creating the image of people at a beach all standing in the same direction. Line two says they “All turn and look one way.” They could all have the same type of look on their faces, or they could be looking in the same direction. Both ways, however, constitutes the reader to believe that all of them must have something in common. Frost does not distinguish anyone from the group. Instead he considers them as a whole; all of them seem sad or worried.

A little more of the meaning is revealed in line three. All of them turning their backs towards the land shows that there’s something about the land that they don’t want to be thinking about. Frost could have said that they were faced towards the sea and not have mentioned the land, but he didn’t; so that shows the land having significance.

The next line could have been joined with the third line, but it makes more impact in this way. By putting it as its own sentence, it separates from the thought of the land. Frost is trying to allow the reader to forget about the land and focus on the ocean. It isn’t so much what there is to look at, than to just gaze.

In the next stanza, Frost describes some of the things that are occurring around the people on and near the beach. In lines five and six, Frost is personifying the ship by saying that it keeps “raising” or building its hull. Ships are already personified (for the most part) because most often they are given human names and are considered female. In this case, however, Frost is not really regarding the ship as any single gender, mainly to put his point across that both male and female are present at the beach and are looking out at the ocean. By saying “as long as it takes to pass,” Frost is showing that time really isn’t a factor here, and that it really doesn’t exist.

Frost uses simile in the next line to describe the wet sand. He compares it to glass, for in line eight, a sea gull casts its reflection into the wet sand like glass. By using “reflects” in this situation, Frost is creating multiple meanings. The people could be reflecting upon themselves. They could be trying to make themselves feel better by reflecting upon the good aspects of their lives. This could also be showing that even if the sea gull doesn’t see its reflection, that reflection is still there, and then someone else may even see that reflection. This supports the idea that the people there at the beach are trying to forget about their problems or fears, but those fears and problems can still be reflected, whether they don’t see them or don’t want to see them. But why a standing sea gull in this situation? The gull was standing, which means it was remaining motionless. This represents how the people are all just standing and looking at the sea. Also, a sea gull is most often associated with the ocean, and it is also most often thought of as flying, rather than standing. This is symbolizing how the people are normally there on the land, and are out of place at the sea. It isn’t normal for them to stare at the sea.

In line seven where Frost uses the word “ground,” he could have chosen to use sand or beach; but by using “ground,” the land is associated with ground, and so he is saying that the people may be looking at the sea, but those fears are still on the land. Also, the word “ground,” compared to sand and beach, sounds like a much harder surface. This symbolizes the hardships related to the land that the people are trying to forget.

The word “may” is very crucial in line nine, for it is foreshadowing the word “But” at the beginning of line ten. By using “may” and not a stronger word like “does,” Frost is saying that altough the people know the land has more features to look at, they are trying not to look at the land. The land is associated with their fears and problems, and that’s what they don’t want to think about.

In line ten, the word “wherever” is showing that it isn’t clear and doesn’t really matter where the truth is, because that’s not what the people want to remember. This is why line ten is ended with a dash. The dash is disregarding the idea of line ten, which compares to how the people are disregarding their problems. Then, at line eleven, another wave crashes onto the shore, and the people look out to the sea. This stanza as a whole is saying that the people are almost thinking about those problems and fears, but a wave comes ashore and washes those thoughts away. What it may also be saying is that even if the land has more features to look at, the people enjoy looking at the sea much more. The crash of the waves is very soothing to them.

Line thirteen and fourteen are actually opposing the entirety of the poem. By putting both of these lines in two complete sentences, Frost has given them their full meaning; but those meanings are quite similar. Line thirteen suggests that the people really can’t look out at the sea far from their fears, and line fourteen suggests that they can’t look very far into the waters of the sea to go to a different place away from their fears. These two lines also say that these people cannot, or they will not ever be able to look deep into the waters or far out to sea. This is also saying that they cannot hide. However, this does not stop them from looking, for they are very determined.

The word “But” begins the next line, which quickly disregards the thoughts from the previous two lines. It is immediately setting the reader up for a contradiction. The last two lines of the poem are basically saying, “But when has that ever stopped the people from looking at the sea?” “Watch” is used as a noun, but Frost is letting the reader realize that time is also a factor. These lines substantiate that no matter how little there is to look at, the people will keep on looking so much as to forget about their problems and fears.

Through the entire duration of the poem, Frost is showing that the people are always going to be looking out at the sea, trying to disregard what is on the land; but no matter how hard they look, fears and worries that are on the land will always be there. When looking back at the poem, it is never mentioned that the people are even happy to be looking at the sea. This is showing that even if looking at the sea makes the people forget their fears and problems, it isn’t going to make them happy, because eventually, they will have to confront their problems and fears. It is human nature to try to forget about problems and be happy. Until those problems are confronted, the people won’t truly be peaceful and happy.

-Luke Motycka

“Neither Out Far Nor in Deep”

-Robert Frost

The people along the sand

All turn and look one way.

They turn their back on the land.

They look at the sea all day.

As long as it takes to pass

Aship keeps raising its hull;

The wetter ground like glass

Reflects a standing gull.

The land may vary more;

But wherever the truth may be—

The water comes ashore,

And the people look at the sea.

They cannot look out far.

They cannot look in deep.

But when was that ever a bar

To any watch they keep?

[1936]

Literature book 5th Edition Hoeper and Pickering

Page 996 “Neither Out Far Nor in Deep” by Robert Frost