Lines

**Robert Frost (1874-1963)**
Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874, in San Fransisco, California, to William Prescott Frost, Jr. and Isabelle Moodie. His mother was Scottish and his father was English. In 1892, Frost graduated from Lawrence High School and his first poem was published in this high school's magazine. He went on to attend Dartmouth College long enough to join the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, but dropped out after only two months.

Robert Frost sold "My Butterfly", his first poem, in 1894, for fifteen dollars. He went on to study liberal arts at Harvard University for two years and also married Elinor Miriam White at the campus. He would not finish his studies at Harvard because his grandfather passed away, but before he passed he bought the new couple a farm. This farm is where Robert Frost worked for nine years and where he wrote many of his poems. Eventually, he realized that farming was not his calling and he became an English teacher at Pinkerton Academy from 1906 to 1911. From 1921 to 1963, Frost spent almost every summer and fall teaching at Bread Loaf School of English in Middlebury. In 1940, Frost bought a 5-acre plot of land in South Miami, Florida, and spend the remainder of his winters there.

Frost died January 29, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts, from complications during prostate surgery. He was buried at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont. A line from one of his poems is used on the tombstone: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world."

[[image:jlines:funnel_web_spider_and_moth_prey_durham_82408.JPG width="276" height="256" align="right"]]
I found a dimpled spider, fat and white, On a white heal-all, holding up a moth Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth -- Assorted characters of death and blight Mixed ready to begin the morning right, Like the ingredients of a witches' broth -- A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth, And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white, The wayside blue and innocent heal-all? What brought the kindred spider to that height, Then steered the white moth thither in the night? What but design of darkness to appall?-- If design govern in a thing so small.

The overall, literal meaning of the first part of this poem is a spider having a moth as dinner. The second part of the poem is a discussion of why this is happening. The second stanza is very ambiguous seeing how it is questioning the ways of God and why He does the things that he does. Typically, in poetry, the color white gives imagery to something heavenly or pure. Spiders are not considered to be 'pure,' therefore they are usually given a dark color in poetry. Line 6 discusses a "witches' broth" including a white spider, a flower, and dead wings. Also, in the second stanza, "If design govern in a thing so small" is considered highly important. This gives insight to Frost's struggle with finding God. He is questioning whether or not things happen randomly or whether it is God's plan for the spider to feed on this moth at this specific time. My personal view on these critical thoughts are similar. From reading "Design", I felt that he was questioning his religion and wondering why he should fight so diligently at something that comes so easily to others.

**Devotion**
The heart can think of no devotion Greater than being shore to ocean - Holding the curve of one position, Counting an endless repetition.

Initially, the poem literally means that many people would love to live along the ocean; it's peaceful and solemn. The endless repetition literally means the waves continually move back and forth and there is a constant breeze that comes with that. There aren't any ambiguous parts to the poem in my opinion, it seems pretty straight forward and it doesn't give emotions. From reading the poem, I took from it that Frost was simply trying to explicate his feelings of the ocean. As stated in the biography of Frost, he spent all his winters in Florida, therefore he spend a good amount of his life along the ocean. I think this poem was simply written to inform readers of the ocean's beauty and peacefulness and that with repetition, there is nothing to fear.

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.

A mere surface reading gives the reader the impression that the poem is about how the world will end -- fire or ice -- and that Frost would favor fire. When reading this poem quickly, there wouldn't be anything that many people find ambiguous, but when looking closely, the poem contains ambiguous parts which can lead to harsh details. A deeper look into the poem brings meaning to fire and to ice. Fire symbolizes desire while ice symbolizes hatred. "From what I've tasted of desire / I hold with those who favor fire" is a quote from "Fire and Ice" that gives insight to this. Frost knows the feeling of 'desire' because he married Elinor White. When Elinor died and his children passed, the desire was burning in his heart for the losses he felt. Frost goes on to say that ice, or hatred, would also "suffice" in the destruction of the world. I a gree with the symbolism in "Fire and Ice." I don't think that Frost believed actual fire, nor ice, would cause the world to end.

The Soldier
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled, That lies unlifted now, come dew, come rust, But still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust. If we who sight along it round the world, See nothing worthy to have been its mark, It is because like men we look too near, Forgetting that as fitted to the sphere, Our missiles always make too short an arc. They fall, they rip the grass, they intersect The curve of earth, and striking, break their own; They make us cringe for metal-point on stone. But this we know, the obstacle that checked And tripped the body, shot the spirit on Further than target ever showed or shone.

When quickly reading "The Soldier", the reader may visualize a soldier laying on the ground after a battle, but this is not the case. There is a lot of imagery present in this poem. Frost sets up a scene from the get-go, informing the reader that the dead soldier's lance, or spear, lies on the ground still. "Come dew, come rust, but still lies pointed as it ploughed the dust" explains the spear is still short of the target, for "our missiles always make too short an arc." Metaphorically, the spear represents immediate aims in life. The third quatrain discusses how citizens take for granted what soldiers do for them and that they just mess around. The final two lines, a couplet, symbolizes the soldier's soul actually making it to where it wants to go, it's 'target". I believe this poem is an Italian sonnet because the octave, or the first two quatrains, presents a situation while the third quatrain and the couplet, or the sestet, further explain the situation and give a con clusion to the problem.

The Secret Sits
We dance round in a ring and suppose, But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.

The literal meaning is that a "Secret sits in the middle" of a ring. The entire poem is only two lines long which means that there really are no ambiguous parts. My interpretation of this poem, no matter how simple it appears, is that it creates a bigger picture. The picture it creates is very subtle, but it also allows the imagination to wander. I imagine a group of friends dancing around in a room with someone or something mysterious in the middle of the room. This 'Secret' is important, not only because it is randomly capitalized in the poem but because it contains some sort of knowledge about the group of people surrounding it. A deeper knowledge of the reader knowing what the Secret knows is unlikely, therefore I'll just say that it "knows."