Robert Frost: Poem Analysis Essay, Research Paper
Robert Frost: Poem Analysis Gregory GeismarDISCUSS
FROST?S TREATMENT OF NATURE IN ANY THREE POEMS YOU HAVE STUDIED REFER TO MAN?S ATTITUDE
TO NATURE IS FROST?S ATTITUDE
TRADTIONAL OR MODERN? EXPLORE THE POET?S USE
OF LANGUAGE POEMS: TWO LOOK AT TWO TREE AT MY WINDOW IN HARDWOOD GROVES If one looks
at man?s attitude to nature in the three poems then there are many similarities
and differences. In ?Two Look at Two? one gets the feeling that nature is
unhappy and angry at man and the destruction that he causes. ?With barbed-wire
binding.? The image of barbed wire is quite unnatural, it is a man made
barrier, which has been placed in an area where there should be no sign of
anything constructed or built by humans. The fact that man has put the obstacle
there indicates that he takes nature very much for granted and only thinks what
is best for him and not the surrounding area i.e. the animals, birds and plant
life etc. Natures attitude to man is summed up in the doe?s reaction to
man,?she sighed and passed unscared along the wall.? The doe?s actions
reinforces the idea that nature is not interested in something that wherever it
goes it has to take over and impose itself. Nature does not take kindly to this
and thus ignores it. The buck?s actions as
well show how nature truly views us, ?why don?t you make some?you can?t.? Here
the roles are reversed usually it is us, man, who judges nature, pointing,
staring and wondering why the animals seem so lifeless. However here the buck
does the same thing to us realising that we are nothing special and that it
would prefer to carry living it?s life rather than be a human. The tone at this
point in the poem is angry, almost scornful and aggressive summing up just how
nature feels about us. The irony in the poem is the fact that man thinks they
have come away from the event having experienced some kind of transcendence,
?As if the earth?their love.? They think they have showed care for nature and
in exchange nature has returned their love. However this could not be further from
the truth, man is completely oblivious to his surroundings and only feels what
he wants to, nature is in-fact completely un-interested in them. ????? ?Tree
at My Window,? renews faith that there can be a relationship between man and
nature. In this poem a true bond is demonstrated with a tree and what I would
imagine to be a young child looking out for each other at all costs. ?But let
there never be curtain drawn,? neither want there to be any sort of barrier
between them. This illustrates profoundly that man and nature can have a
relationship if there is nothing in their way, nothing un-natural. What struck
me most about the poem was that even though the tree and the man have to
contend with different surroundings and events (the tree with the elements, the
child with mood and temperament) they could still look out for each other and
develop an affiliation.??? If one looks
at,?In Hardwood Groves,? then you can see that Frost is talking about the
essence of nature and the cycle of life, ?The same leaves over and over again!?
Frost is presenting simple but essential truths on his observations of nature.
In this
what life is all about and how we are all just on a clock going towards death. If you look at
?Two Look at Two,? then Frost?s attitude seems to be modern. This is down to
the fact that he is representing a real life situation, where people from the
city or urban areas travel to the countryside expecting some kind of
transcendent experience with nature. They go away thinking they have this but
really nature hasn?t returned any of their interest. The essence that makes
this poem modern is the fact that the human?s discard nature and take it for
granted, not realising that it thinks and feels and is not just there to be
pointed and stared at. The couple?s attitude is modern, as they do not have a
clue how nature wants to be treated, how they must respect and cherish it,
typical of city/urban people now days. In ?Tree at My
Window,? I found it more of a traditional poem. The poem brings to mind a
situation, which would have happened years ago rather than in modern days. It
talks about the bond that can develop between human and nature, how they can
respect each other and get along with each other. It is not a situation that I
think you would see in the 21st century, sadly. It also talks about
how there should be no barrier between man and nature, however that is the
opposite of now a days with their being so many physical obstacles separating the
two. I also found
?In Hardwood Groves,? quite a traditional poem. In this Frost is taking the
attitude that leaves live, solely there to give shade, they then die, and the
whole cycle starts again, ?They fall from giving shade above,? this is a very
conventional opinion to have. He ignores the fact that leaves can be there for
beauty but also and more importantly to help us breath and keep the planet
going. Robert Frost?s viewpoint here is traditional further in the fact that he
seems to be taking for granted the need we have for leaves, and he is very firm
on his opinion, ?I know that this is the way in ours.? The use of
language in ?In Hardwood Groves,? conveys a feeling of frustration,? The same
leaves over and over again!? This first line indicates to me that the poet is
aggravated and concerned by the same continual cycle that the leaves take.
Lines 7 and 8 suggest a childlike intuition of things as they really are. Words
such as ?dark and decayed? symbolise the ideas of death and resurrection, themes
that appear in Frost?s other poems. The continual use of ?must? in lines 7-9
reinforce the idea that the cycle the leaves have to take is unavoidable and in
order for a new generation to be born they have to go through those routes. The language
in ?Tree at My Window? is very variated. The first two stanzas are relaxed and
tranquil,?vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,? this line particularly
typifies the calmness of the first two stanzas. However the last two stanzas
then suddenly become more serious. Frost starts to use more intensely emotive
language,?tossed? and ?swept? giving a sense of desperation and urgency to the
tone of the poem. Frost?s use of language manages to identify with the tree and
the human whilst still being able to insist on the differences between them.