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Robert Frost, perhaps the greatest American poet of the twentieth century,
has brought himself great recognition. Many critics have tried to find a faulty
side to his writing, but they have had a difficult time because his writing
romanticizes the rural simplicity that he loved while probing into the mysteries
of the universe (Estep 2). Three areas of criticism covered are: a speaker's
decision in choosing, a poem broken down into three sections, and Frost's use of
metaphors and style in his writing. Born in San Francisco, but raised in New
England, many of Robert Frost's poems are representations of his experiences in
the northeastern parts of America. He was unsuccessful in college never earning
his degree, and for several years he supported his family by tending to a farm
his grandfather bought for him. In his spare time, Frost would read and write
anything and everything. Discouraged by his unsuccessful life as a poet, he
packed up his bags and moved to England. He continued writing and published his
first two books of poetry, which would gain him the recognition in America he
had been in search of (ExpLit 1).
One of Frost's most famous poems is The Road
Not Taken. This poem is about someone who comes to a fork in a path. One path is
well beaten and treaded, while the other is less traveled and more difficult. Is
the traveler happy with the decision he has made to take the road less traveled?
Many critics think he may have had second thoughts. Magill's Survey of American
Literature states that there are many contradictions throughout the poem, …He
seems to contradict his own judgment. The poet appears to imply that the
decision is based on evidence that is, or comes close to being an allusion (Magill
64).The tone of the stanza and the title of the poem suggest that the traveler
may be regretting his choice because by making a choice to do one thing you have
to give up the opportunity to do another (Magill 74). I kept the first for
another day! I shall be telling this with a sigh. Discovering Authors Modules
agrees with other critics. Is he truly happy with his choice? The traveler
doesn't ever directly say he was happy with his choice, so is he satisfied? In
the poem it states, …and that has made all the difference, but has it made all
the difference in a positive way (DAM 2). Frost also probes one of the great
mysteries of life: the ability to choose and the consequences of choosing (DAM
2). The Literary Café also has similar ideas on the poem. After the traveler has
chosen which path to follow, he still yearns to travel both paths, saying that
he'll keep the first for another day. But, then he realizes that there is no
return to the other path and that the final decision has been made. At the end
of the poem the traveler sighs, but is he sighing because he is satisfied with
his decision or because he may regret something about choosing the path that he
did (LitCaf 1). Another famous poem by Robert Frost is Birches. It is a poem
about the way the branches on a birch tree bend in the winter. Many critics
think the poem is divided into three basic parts. An Interpretation of Frost's
Birches thinks the three parts are the scientific explanation of the appearance
of the birches, Frost's boyhood fantasy about their appearance, and his present
day interpretation of their appearance. The first section is of the natural ways
a branch would bend and crack because of weather. Loaded with ice a sunny winter
morning after a rain. The second is more of how the branches would bend because
of a little boy swinging on them. By riding them down over and over again until
he took the stiffness out of them. Then in the third section Frost expresses how
the tree reaches toward heaven and brings back memories of his childhood. And
climb back branches up a snow-white trunk Toward heaven. Magill has also noticed
the three sections but in a slightly different format, saying, It can be
separated into three almost equal parts: the observation and description of
trees bent by winter storms, the recollection of techniques of birch swinging,
and the grown man's dream, energized by his awareness of claims of both earth
and heaven (Magill 69). Magill also notices the many comparisons in Birches.
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