Figurative Language In Robert Frost's Poem 'Birches'

Robert Frost’s poem, “Birches”, is by far an American classic. Like many poets, Frost was very skilled at using figurative language. Frost shows his skill of using similes, metaphors, and personification in “Birches”.

Frost, the American word smith, included strong similes in “Birches”. Similes are when an author uses the words “like” and/or “as” to compare two things in order to get a deeper meaning. An example of this would be in stanza 18-20 where Frost writes “Years afterwards, trailing their leaves the ground/Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair/Before them over their heads to dry in the sun”. In this example, Frost uses the word “like” to compare the birches to girls thus creating a simile. By comparing the two, Frost gives the reader a deeper understanding of how he sees the birches. Another example is in stanza 44 where Frost writes “And life is too much like a pathless wood”. For those who have never been through woods without path ways, lost lacking direction is the common horror in that situation. To compare life to that by using the word

“like” is an astonishing simile.
Many poems use the figurative language of metaphors and Robert Frosts “Birches” is no exception. Sometimes the emotions left by events in life feel much bigger than the actual event. Metaphors are the written out exaggerations of those events. An example of this is in stanza 11 where Frost writes “Shattering and avalanching on the snow crust”. Surely the small ice crystals falling from the birches would rare, if ever, could cause something as massive as an avalanche. Never the less, Frost writes this metaphor to give the reader a deeper sense of emotion to this event. Another example is in stanzas 12 and 13, in which Frost writes “Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away/You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen”. So grand is heaven described in many works of literature yet Frost writes the strong metaphor saying such insignificant ice crystals would make the reader think the dome of heaven had fallen. This truly show cases how well Frost can use metaphors to capture the reader.
Personification is not easy to do but for Frost it is just another poetic tool he uses in “Birches”.

Personification is giving human like qualities to inanimate objects. An example of this is in stanza 21 and 22 where Frost writes “But I was going to say when Truth broke in/With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm”. Frost personified the truth as a woman. By personifying it, the reader can have a deeper comprehension of how Frost envisioned the truth. Another example is in stanzas 50 and 51 where Frost writes “May no fate willfully misunderstand me/And half grant what I wish and snatch me away”. Obviously fate has no will. Obviously fate cannot literally snatch Frost. Never the less sometime it can feel like fate hand selects what happens and what does not. Frost does an amazing job of helping the reader visualize how he sees these events by personifying specific parts

it.
Robert Frost’s poem, “Birches”, is by far an American classic. Like many poets, Frost was very skilled at using figurative language. Frost shows his skill of using similes, metaphors, and personification in “Birches”. By using these tools of figurative language, he was able to capture the attention of reader nationwide.