Desert Places In the poem Desert Places by Robert Frost, the author describes the scenery in which he came across with. It was on a winter day, and the day was turning into a night. As he went across a field, he saw that the ground was almost all covered in snow. But then he noticed a few weeds and stubble on the ground. On the first line, Frost talks about how the night falling fast. This is referring to how fast Frost felt concerning time, which went by fast in real life. At the end of the line, Frost added two simple words which seems to add a sense of desperation, or even a sense of hopelessness, to the whole idea of time going by fast. The words “oh, fast” seem to show that although Frost did not like it, but there was nothing he could do or change about it. Time will ...
He describes how the sun “bakes” the earth, the grasshoppers “consume the parched grass,” and how the prairies are full of “endless desolation.” The word “bakes” exhibits nature’s hostility to its surrounding lands. The grasshoppers eating the “parched grass” convey how on top of the grass slowly starving and dying, it has to deal with the grasshoppers devouring it as well; which emphasizes nature’s unforgivable attitude towards the land. The words “endless desolation” reveal that the land is nothing but despair, and that it is full of endless agony and suffering. This bleak description expresses a miserable tone that deduces the reader’s mind to believe the landscape is barren and
Robert Frost’s poem Desert Places (1936) begins to stimulate the reader’s visual senses in the first stanza. The poem begins, “Snow falling
Frost uses different stylistic devices throughout this poem. He is very descriptive using things such as imagery and personification to express his intentions in the poem. Frost uses imagery when he describes the setting of the place. He tells his readers the boy is standing outside by describing the visible mountain ranges and sets the time of day by saying that the sun is setting. Frost gives his readers an image of the boy feeling pain by using contradicting words such as "rueful" and "laugh" and by using powerful words such as "outcry". He also describes the blood coming from the boy's hand as life that is spilling. To show how the boy is dying, Frost gives his readers an image of the boy breathing shallowly by saying that he is puffing his lips out with his breath.
Frost's poem addresses the tragic transitory nature of living things; from the moment of conception, we are ever-striding towards death. Frost offers no remedy for the universal illness of aging; no solution to the fact that the glory of youth lasts only a moment. He merely commits to writing a deliberation of what he understands to be a reality, however tragic. The affliction of dissatisfaction that Frost suffers from cannot be treated in any tangible way. Frost's response is to refuse to silently buckle to the seemingly sadistic ways of the world. He attacks the culprit of aging the only way one can attack the enigmatic forces of the universe, by naming it as the tragedy that it is.
The night is a symbol for dark moments of solitude during the speaker’s life. Through being “acquainted with the night” (line 1), the speaker is saying that he is familiar with darkness, proving how symbolism brings out a detached tone with the help of diction, saying that isolated darkness is something the speaker experiences regularly. The exertion of the night as symbolism creates an image for readers to realize that Frost did not actually mean nighttime in his poem; he used the night as symbolism to provide deeper insight and bring the image of our own dark times to describe as “the night”(line 1) just as the speaker of “Acquainted With the Night” did. Symbolism goes on to present itself in line 2, the “rain” is used as a symbol for tears and melancholy. The rain was not meant to be read literally, but rather symbolically as tears, or times of mourning over the harsh struggles in life, just as the speaker did when he “walked out in rain and back in rain” (line 2) meaning he walked into and out of life’s struggles. If the weather is cold and rainy, no one goes outside because of the gloomy clouds and cold rain. Similarly, no one reached out to the speaker in “Acquainted With the Night” during his gloomy periods of “rain”(line 2) or sadness, which expresses
Throughout “Acquainted with the Night,” Frost uses descriptive words to help the reader form a picture in their mind. The reader gets a great image in their mind when Frost states, “I have walked out in rain—and back in
One of the most commonly referred and interesting Biomes in the world is the Desert. Located all throughout the world in arid regions, they cover over 18 million square kilometers. Deserts comprise of about 30% of Earth’s attainable land surface making it one of the largest accessible Biomes in the world. Most of the great deserts are centered on latitudes between 20 and 30 degrees North and South of the Equator, but also may be accessed where large mountain ranges produce intense rain shadows. One of the most commonly referred and greatest deserts is The Sahara located in North Africa stretching over an astounding 9 million square kilometers.
When attempting to answer this question one must first analyze the poem. "Desert Places" is a poem told by a third person observer who initially is focusing on a snowy field. In the third line Frost states, "And the ground almost covered smooth in snow." This starts to paint the image of an empty field being covered by more and more snow. Towards the end of the poem Frost makes reference to the stars. Space between stars is perhaps the biggest empty space we can begin to comprehend. "Desert Places" are demonstrated through the use of a snowy field and outer space. This is the obvious observation but the poem seems to be referring to much more. In line eight the poem Frost writes, "The Loneliness includes me unawares." Albert J. Von Fronk makes an interesting observation in saying, "The poet notes that he, too, is "absent-spirited"; he, too, is "included" in the loneliness." It is not just the animals and snowy field the speaker is accusing of being lonely but them self as well. The field seems to be a metaphor for the speaker's loneliness.
The poem is showing how many people are questioning the way Frost conducts himself and his happiness. Everything in Frost’s poem up until the last stanza is dark and depressing. An example of this is, “Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.” (Frost, Lines 7 and 8). Frost is so consumed in the sadness, that its very dark around him. The last stanza is where Frost’s hopefulness is presented. The happiness is hinted towards, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.” (Frost, Lines 13 to 16). He has promised himself to always keep moving forward and focusing on the goodness that life has to offer. Frost knows that he isn’t quite there yet, but he will not give up. He emphasizes his perseverance by reaping himself twice when he says “And miles to go before I sleep,” (Frost, Line 15). He had a break through and knows that he cannot give up. He is taking the little bit of happiness he knows to transform his life completely too where he is happy with every aspect of it. He is taking the hope that he does have and running with it, not looking back at the despair he feels that surrounds
Robert Frost is known for his poems about nature, he writes about trees, flowers, and animals. This is a common misconception, Robert Frost is more than someone who writes a happy poem about nature. The elements of nature he uses are symbolic of something more, something darker, and something that needs close attention to be discovered. Flowers might not always represent beauty in Robert Frost’s poetry. Symbolism is present in every line of the nature’s poet’s poems. The everyday objects present in his poems provide the reader an alternative perspective of the world. Robert Frost uses all the elements of poetry to describe the darker side of nature. After analyzing the Poem Mending Wall and After Apple Picking it is clear that nature plays a dark and destructive role for Robert Frost. This dark side of Frost’s poetry could have been inspired from the hard life he lived.
Although this poem also is connected with nature, the theme is more universal in that it could be related to Armageddon, or the end of the world. Even though this theme may seem simple, it is really complex because we do not know how Frost could possibly relate to the events leading to the end of the world. It is an "uncertain" and sometimes controversial topic, and even if everyone was certain it was coming, we do not know exactly how it will occur and when. Therefore, how did Frost envision this event? Is he portraying it in a religious context, a naturalistic one, or both? The last line (14) speaks of God putting out the light, which brings out a religious reference, but the bulk of the poem deals with nature entirely. Physical images of water, clouds, continents, and cliffs present a much more complex setting than the simple setting in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" or the yellow wood in "The Road Not Taken."
In the opening stanza, Frost describes coming to a point during a walk along a rural road that diverges into two separate, yet similar paths. The narrator finds that he ...
In this poem he now talks about water. The reader can see how powerful the water is when it eats away at the cliff. The shore was lucky by being backed by the cliff. Once again Frost is discussing water which goes back to stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by stating the water because there is water in this poem with snow Frost keeps bringing up water and snow.
Frost explores a different aspect of life and death with his poem, Acquainted With the Night. "Acquainted With the Night belongs with a group of dark poems in a section subtitled Fiat Knox (let there be night), an ironic allusion to Fiat Lux (let there be light), the divine command in Genesis, when God created the heaven and the earth" (Meyers194). This poem is the story of a person who walks at night, silently watching everything happen around them. I seemed confused with the whole concept of walking the night away, until I reread the poem and discovered a possible translation. " When far away an interrupted cry, Cam...
Edward Abbey once stated: “Water, water, water....There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount , a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid West so different from any other part of the nation. There is no lack of water here unless you try to establish a city where no city should be.” Through poems such as Birches, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, Out, Out--, Acquainted with the Night, and The Gift Outright Frost uses an amazing capacity of human intellect to personify the areas of living. Whether it be nature or rural, both are celebrated. Robert Frost uses his poetry to celebrate, compare, and contrast the beauty of nature and rural living.