An Analysis of the Importance of the Rural and Urban Scenery

“A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them . . .such is my idea of happiness.” (Tolstoy) The differences between the lifestyles of the rural and the urban have been written into literature, primarily poetry since the very idea of the city was developed. From the time that these two groups began to identify themselves, the differences began to form. Plenty of writers have offered their opinions on what it means to live in the country, and the city alike. Robert Frost is one such poet. He has a countless number of works that focus their themes on the differences between these two groups. Robert Frost is very highly regarded for his depictions of rural life, drawing images from his own life. One such example of this being the poem Birches, where Frost describes the life of a boy in a rural setting. “Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, / Whose only play was what he found himself, / Summer or winter, and could play alone.” (Birches, 875) The fact that Frost drew from his own experiences is precisely why these texts had so much impact, leaving Frost as one of the most prominent authors of this category. Robert Frost is one of the few poets that have been able to accurately describe the growing difference between the lifestyle of the traditionally urban individuals and the lifestyle of the traditionally rural individuals.

Robert Frost further proves that with every passing generation, the differences between those living in rural and urban environments grow greater. Frost’s poem Mending Wall depicts of one of the most traditional tasks faced by someone living on the countryside, no matter wh...

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...ken into consideration by the thinkers. Frost depicts the urban thinker’s opinions by suggesting that they merely see the countryside as an uneducated, carefree life, nothing in comparison to their life, to the harsh bite of the broad-shouldered city. “One luminary clock against the sky / Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. / I have been one acquainted with the night.” (Night, 883)

Works Cited

Bunce, M. F. The Countryside Ideal: Anglo-American Images of Landscape. London: Routledge, 1994. Print.

Gill, James E. Cutting Edges: Postmodern Critical Essays on Eighteenth-century Satire. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 1995. Print.

Sandburg, Carl. Chicago Poems. Raleigh: Alex Catalogue, 199-. Print.

Tolstoy, Leo. Family Happiness: Stories. New York: HarperPerennial, 2009. Print.

Williams, Raymond. The Country and the City. New York: Oxford UP, 1973. Print.