Comparing Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson

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Comparing Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson as Poets

Often, the poets Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson try to convey the themes of the meaning of nature, or that of death and loneliness. Although they were born more than fifty years apart their poetry is similar in many ways. Both poets talk about the power of nature, death and loneliness. However, Dickinson and Frost are not similar in all poetic aspects. In fact, they differ greatly in tone.

Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost both talk about the power of nature in their poetry. Dickinson uses this theme in her poem " `Nature' is what we see -." The power of nature is strongly portrayed in this poem by Dickinson's articulation of what the speaker see's in nature. " `Nature' is what we see -... / Nature is what we hear -... / Nature is what we know -" (277 lines 1,5,9). Nature is everything to a person, it appeals to all senses. Dickinson also says in this poem, "So impotent Our Wisdom is / To her Simplicity" (277). The speaker is saying that nature has such great power that one can't even comprehend her simplest ways.

In comparison ...

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...89. p466.

----- "Birches." American Literature. New York: Scribner Laidlaw. 1989. p472,473.

----- "Fire and Ice" American Literature. New York: Scribner Laidlaw. 1989. p466.

Freeman, Margaret. "Metaphor Making Meaning: Dickinson's Conceptual Universe." Journal of Pragmatics 24 (1995): 643-666.

Nesteruk, Peter. "The Many Deaths of Emily Dickinson." Emily Dickinson journal 6.1 (1997): 25-44.

White, Fred D. "`Sweet Skepticism of the Heart': Science in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson." College Literature 19.1 (Feb 1992): 121-128.

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