Powell

Robert Frost Robert

Robert Frost was born in California in 1874, to Mr. and Mrs. William Prescott Frost, Jr.. When his father died in May 5, 1885, Robert and his family moved to Massachusetts to live with his grandfather. Robert Frost would publish his first poem in his high schools magazine. He later married Elinor Miriam White, and took over his grandfather’s farm. Frost later moved to England, but returned to America when WWI began. Throughout his lifetime Frost continued to write and produced some famous works including: “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening”, “Fire and Ice”, “Birches”, “After Apple Picking”. Frost also suffered from personal tragedy that he seemed to never overcome despite his fame. He suffered through many family deaths including his father’s while he was only eleven years old. His mother, wife, and three of his children all died of medical related issues during Frost time. Frost was also confronted with many mental diseases; he had to commit one of his reaming daughters, and his sister to a mental institution. Also, one of Frost two sons committed suicide. Frost would die in January of 1963 Frost died, but he would always be remembered as one of America’s great poets. Frost

“The Pasture”

//I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;// media type="youtube" key="bLuqhzNESaM" height="299" width="367" align="right" //I'll only stop to rake the leaves away (And wait to watch the water clear, I may): I sha'n't be gone long. You come too.// //I'm going out to fetch the little calf That's standing by the mother. It's so young, It totters when she licks it with her tongue. I sha'n't be gone long. You come too.//

Pasture

In the first four lines of “The Pasture” Frost talks about how the narrator is going to clean the pasture, and how he would only stop to rake the leaves. Frost ends the poem with the line “I shan’t be gone long. – You come too. In the last four lines of the poem Frost talks about how the narrator is going to fetch a calf. He writes about how the calf is so young that it totters, when it is licked by its mother. He ends the four lines with the same line that he used after the first four lines, “I shan’t be gone long. – You come too”. The poem rhyme scheme is ABBAACCA. I think that Frost wanted us to take the poem literally. I think that the task that the narrator is going to perform signifies that the hard work is done. The narrator is cleaning the field because the harvest is done come and gone. This is also why he has time to watch the water. This is also the case with going to get the calf. I think Frost was trying to show that the birth had already taken place. The hard part was done. I think that the question, “I shan’t be gone long. – You come too”, is just asking the reader to join him in leisure. I believe that Frost wanted to show the importance of rest.

“Neither Out Far Nor In Deep”

//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// //A ship 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?// sea

In “Neither Out Far Nor In Deep” the narrator begins in the first stanza by talking about people who are on the shore. He says that they have turned from the land and instead look at the sea all day. He then continues in the second and the third stanza, that no matter what ever happens the people still continue to look at the sea. In the last stanza the narrator describes the people as not being able to see very far or very deep. The poem uses a rhyme scheme ABAB. Frost could have meant for us to take the poem in a literal context; that there is actual people, that the narrator sees, standing by the sea and gazing outward. Frost could also have meant that maybe they are not really gazing at the sea, but the sea is a symbol for something else. I think that the sea is a symbol for something that the people are focused on in their lives. Frost talks about the wet ground reflecting a standing gull. I think that the standing gull is a representation of the people gazing at the sea. They are not able to get past this particular point in their life. Frost continues on in the next stanza when he talks about the land changing and the water coming ashore. These events seem to represent the changes that are taking place in the people’s lives. Yet, the people are not able to change their focus, and continue to gaze at the sea. Frost seems to summarize the state of these people in the last stanza. He says that they can’t look far or deep, and they continue to stare at the sea. I think that he is implying that these people are not able to see pass their current position and remain in their current state.

“Fire and Ice”

//Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.//

fire and ice

In “fire and ice” the narrator begins by describing two possible alternatives for the world to be destroyed, fire or ice. The narrator says that he has tasted enough of desire that he would side with fire. However, he says that if he could perish twice; he knows enough of hate that ice would also suffice. The poem has the rhyme scheme of ABAABCBCB//.// Frost used two possible types of destruction. Why did he use fire and ice and what do they have to do with desire and hate? Frost could have just meant for this poem to be taken literally. That the world will be destroyed by either fire or ice, and it does not matter which one because both will accomplish the same goal. However, could frost have been trying to say something more? Maybe Frost is not talking about the world at all, but instead the life of the narrator. I think that Frost is not talking about the world, but instead uses the word world in the first line to describe the narrator’s life or his personal world. I think this is what Frost is trying to say when he talks about desire and hate. He uses fire and ice as a way of describing the desire and hate. Desire is something that burns within us, pushing us forward, but desire can also consume us if we allow it. Like desire, fire is very similar, it is a good think, but if we get to close it can harm us. Just as Frost uses fire to describe desire he uses ice to describe hate. Ice is something that is cold and hard. Hate is very similar in that it can cool and harden our hearts. Frost sums everything up in the last line by saying that ice would be a equal destruction. I think that frost wants us to realize that both can destroy us if we alloy them.

“Desert Places”

//Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast In a field I looked into going past, And the ground almost covered smooth in snow, But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it--it is theirs. All animals are smothered in their lairs. I am too absent-spirited to count; The loneliness includes me unawares. 

And lonely as it is that loneliness Will be more lonely ere it will be less-- A blanker whiteness of benighted snow With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces Between stars--on stars where no human race is. I have it in me so much nearer home To scare myself with my own desert places.// snow

In “desert places” the narrator begins by describing a field that is almost filled with snow. The narrator then talks about the loneliness that the field expresses. He says that all the animals are gone. The place seems bare. You really begin to see the scene as a place that is lonely. The snow is falling and hiding the life that was once there. The only element of life left is the narrator. In the end the narrator says that he is not scared of the empty spaces because he has them closer to home."Desert Places" has a rhyme scheme of ABAA for all four stanzas. What does it mean when the narrator talks about his own desert places? It is possible that the narrator is actually talking about deserted places closer to home. However, I think that he is referring to being lonely within his own life. The snow covered field stands as a reminder of the loneliness in his life. The snow, which is the reason behind the field being deserted, in the scene may represent some event that took place in the narrators life that has caused him to feel lonely. The last line seems to summarize everything. The narrator says, “to scare myself with my own desert places”. He seems to acknowledge that what truly scares him is the loneliness within him. Maybe, Frost was talking about his own personal life when he wrote this. He could have been trying to show the loneliness in his own life that he has suffered through the lost of many of his loved ones.

“Mowing”

//There was never a sound beside the wood but one, media type="youtube" key="dMHcBJyxzcA" height="234" width="281" align="right" And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground. What was it it whispered? I know not well myself; Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun, Something perhaps, about the lack of sound— 5 And that was why it whispered and did not speak. It was not dream of the gift of idle hours, Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf: Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows, 10 Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers (Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake. The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows. My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.// scythe

In “Mowing” the narrator begins by describing how his scythe is whispering, but he does not know what it is whispering about. The narrator ponders, is it whispering about the heat of the sun or the lack of sound. The narrator goes on to say that it has not the dream of idle hours. The narrator in the last two lines talks about labor. He says that the dream of labor is what the scythe whispered. The poem has the rhyme scheme of ABCABDECDGEHGH.The main element in this poem seems to be what did the scythe whisper. Frost writes in the last two lines that it is the sweetest dream of labor that his scythe whispers. When Frost says the dream of labor he could be referring to all the things that the narrater pondered before, all of which seem to represent labor in some way.However, I don’t think this is what Frost meant when he wrote the last two lines of the poem. I believe that Frost was trying to say that the scythe could only make the natural sound of a scythe and that the scythe only whispered within the narrators mind. In reality the sound of the scythe means only that it must occur for the narrator’s labor to be productive.