Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Nature As a Common Theme In Frost's Poems



Robert Frost 
The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep 

In the poems I have analyzed that were written by Robert Frost, the common theme is always nature. The theme nature encompasses so many areas but can be narrowed even more specifically to Robert Frost's fascination with woods and trees. There must be a reason why Robert Frost is compelled to use this as an almost constant theme. By looking at his poems with biographical criticism it may be easier to see what motivated his fascination with woods and trees. He uses woods and trees as a medium to express his thoughts about change and other views on life. Robert Frost's imagery of woods and trees is also extraordinary. He portrays the woods as a lovely but dark place. 
Robert Frost is known as one of the finest rural New England's 20th century pastoral poets. After studying at Harvard but not receiving a degree, Robert Frost moved to Derry, New Hampshire and worked there as a cobbler, farmer and teacher. In 1915, Robert Frost bought a farm near Franconia, New Hampshire. In 1920 he bought another farm in South Shaftsbury, Vermont. This serves as a reason for his love of nature and his constant use of woods and trees as images in his poems. Because he lived on farms a good portion of his life, Frost's images of woods and trees were probably taken from his everyday life. 
The images he provides us of in these poems are extremely vivid and realistic. In "Birches" we get an excellent sense of Robert Frost's image of woods and trees. In the beginning of the poem, Robert Frost describes the setting as a darkly wooded landscape, "When I see birches bend to left and right, Across the straighter darker trees" (Frost 77). He describes with admiration the ice coating on the birch trees and describes the melting of it as that, "You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen" (Frost 77). He further describes the bending and malleable quality of the birch tree being due to natural force, not human activity (as would be the...

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