Instructor Mendoza English 1B 22 July 2015 Robert Frost: Annotated Bibliography Research Question: What are the common themes in Robert Frost work? Robert Frost is very successful poet from the 20th century, as well as a four time Pulitzer Prize winner. Robert Frost work was originally published in England and later would be published in the US. He was also considered one of the most popular and respected poets of his century. Robert Frost created countless of poems and plays, many of them containing similar themes. Some of the most popular themes found in his poems encompass isolation, death and everyday life. Robert Frost wrote many poems; however, one of his most popular themes involved isolation. The poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Frost created many poems with a correlation to death. A poem that easily displays this theme is “A Soldier” because it deals with the falling of a soldier at war. As Karen Hardison explains that “"A Soldier" is composed around an extended metaphor that is introduced in the first line: "He is that fallen lance ...." The soldier is compared to a fallen lance, a weapon, that lies on the ground” (1). Most of this poem involves a metaphor and imagery, which help the reader understand the theme. The fallen soldier lies dead on the ground and as time passes he begging to deteriorate yet he remain in the same location, just like the lance. Frost also condemns war and all of the consequences that occur because of it. Furthermore, another of Frost poem that containing the theme of death is “Nothing Gold Can Stay’, the poem indirectly references the theme of death. The poem states that everything eventually comes to an end and that not even gold can remain unchanged. The poem explains this theme with many metaphors about everything’s coming to an end. Freeman explains that “Even the poem's rhymes contribute to this sense of inevitability: Nature's gold we (or She) cannot hold; the flower lasts only an hour; the post flower leaf is like Eden's grief; the coming of day means that dawn's gold cannot stay”(2). The poem explains that everything has a natural cycle and that nothing last forever. When the poem states “nothing can Frost considered nature to be a misunderstood and unpredictable element in his poetry. He wrote many poems involving nature because nature could be interpreted as dangerous or as unmatchable beauty and serenity. The poem “Once by the Pacific” deals with a very personal poem to Robert Frost because it is about one of his own experiences. The poem was based off of Frost when he was a child. The setting is that Frost was waking with his parent near the beach, when he was separated from them. In this poem Frost includes his fear of the ocean and exaggerates its destructive power. As Judith Saunders stated that “The first thirteen lines have depicted an ocean storm of unusual force, and through personification the poet attributes to this storm a malign purposefulness” (1). Frost provided human characteristics on the storm to help prove his point that the ocean has bad intentions and its only purpose is to hurt him. Frost does not describe the waves as a result of unfavorable weather; he explains them as having a malignant intention to destroy the world. This poem revolves around the forces of nature and could be included in the long list of nature themed poems by Robert
In Robert Frost's poem, "Once By The Pacific," he uses nature as his character. He uses the sea, the beach, skies, the cliffs, and the continent and then gives them human characteristics. I feel that he uses these items because the story he is trying to tell is bigger than life, bigger than what could be described with any mere human or animal. By using the seas, the skies, the shore, the cliffs, and the continent as his characters, Robert Frost gives us an image of God's last words having immense power to control the largest forces in the world. He also gives me the image of the clouds being the angry face of God with the two lines, "The clouds were low and hairy in the skies, / Like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes" (Frost 903 lines 5-6). Along with his choice and use of characters, Robert Frost also uses rhyme and rhythm to add to the intensity of his poem.
Adding on to the previous paragraph, Frost in the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Frost uses an allusion in “So Eden sank to grief So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay”(lines 6-8). This is an allusion because it refers to the story of Adam and Eve in which both are in paradise but are soon thrown out after giving in to temptation. This helps to convey the
Robert Frost is regarded as one of the most distinguished American poets in the twentieth century. His work usually realistically describes the rural life in New England in the early twentieth century and conveys complex social and philosophical themes. But his personal life was plagued with grief and loss, which is also reflected in his poems and the dark energy distinguishes Robert Frost’s poems, frequently conveyed in the use of lexical words like dark and its derivatives or synonyms, woods, snow, night, and so on. (Su, Y)
“Four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco” on March 26, 1874 to his parents Isabelle and William (Dreese). Frost lived with his loving mother, abusive father, and sister Jeanie. “Because his father was a violent drunk, Frost as a child witnessed the fury and rage of his father on a regular basis, and if his mother spoke in disagreement, William became brutal, smashing furniture and yelling” (Dreese). His mother, Isabelle would “run into the streets with her children to find refuge” (Dreese). Frost suffered from “stomach pains and other mysterious ailments” due to all of the emotional situations he went through while he was young (Dreese). His mother home-schooled him after he couldn’t handle going to public school. His love of nature started to evolve as he g...
The Tragic Impermanence of Youth in Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay In his poem "Nothing Gold can Stay", Robert Frost names youth and its attributes as invaluable. Using nature as an example, Frost relates the earliest green of a newborn plant to gold; its first leaves are equated with flowers. However, to hold something as fleeting as youth in the highest of esteems is to set one's self up for tragedy. The laws of the Universe cast the glories of youth into an unquestionable state of impermanence.
The poem demonstrates a passage of time, though that amount of time is unclear, it clearly references slow change. Robert Frost often used the metaphor of seasons changing to demonstrate things dying, as well as beauty slowly fading. The only character in this poem is Mother Nature, referencing our world and the nature in it. This is helpful in showing death, as the cycle of life and death in nature happens quickly and continues, so many will experience it.
On the surface, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” seems to simply be a well written, descriptive piece illustrating the endless cycle of seasons changing and the beauty taken along when they leave. However, the entirety of the poem can be described as a metaphor for life. The “gold” in the poem is in life, the innocence, joyfulness, and beauty of youth. As the coming
Robert Frost wrote Nothing Gold Can Stay in 1923, Frost wrote this poem out of fear that the world would end, he did not publish the entire poem and modified the first section. The first section is whatś featured in print. By not publishing the entire piece, this leads me to believe he may have feared judgement, or the original work was for a specific audience. The style of this particular poem is a narrative, a poem that tells a story.
Robert Frost as a Poet has many secret meanings held within his writings this is how he describes his view into life. One of his poems “Nothing Gold Can Stay” Starts off by talking about the wonderful colors of spring, and “Nature’s first green is gold.” Eventually all things come to an end and whither away. The golden flowers that bloom don't stick around for long as they turn green and become leaves.
This poem ended up earning Robert Frost the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1924. This is a poem that refers to Nature, it is referring to Nature and how a leaf during the spring is a golden color at first but then changes to a dark green color. But that’s not the end of the process of course the leaf then falls off the tree and it shows that nothing is forever. Nothing can stay especially not a leaf on the tree for it has to go through its own processes to fully
Often called the most popular American poet of the twentieth century, Robert Frost achieved a worldwide reputation as a major poet early in his career. He and his family spent three years in England, where he published his first two collections of poetry, A Boy’s Will and North of Boston. Initially uncertain about the reception he would receive in the United States, he returned to New England in 1915 to find that his poetry had gained massive popularity among Americans. Frost’s poetry continues to claim a place in the hearts of today’s readers. If asked to name a poet, many would name Robert Frost. Elementary school children learn “The Road Not Taken” and “Mending Wall”. Frost’s poetry earned and keeps its popularity due to its appeal to a wide range of readers. Even those who don’t often read poetry can find something to enjoy. At first glance, Frost writes simply about nature, but beneath the beautiful imagery lays deeper meaning. Frost uses nature to convey his messages, some of which reflect the ideas of the earlier Romantic writers, such as the love of nature and the distrust of industry. While Robert Frost expresses beliefs shared by writers of the Romantic Period, he also describes his own ideas about love, death, and interpersonal relationships.
Robert Frost, a poet that mastered the imagery of nature through his words. Such vivid details compressed in a few stanzas explains the brilliancy of his writing. He was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco. By the 1920s, he was the most celebrated poet in America; with his fame and honor increasing as well. His poems created themes like nature, communication, everyday life, isolation of the individual, duty, rationality versus imagination, and rural life versus urban life. The most controversial theme of this poems is nature and if his poems have a dark side in them. Readers can easily be guided to the fact that his poems are centered on nature; however, it is not. Frost himself says, "I am not a nature poet. There is almost a person in
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.
Robert Frost has always been noted for his incredible poetry that is full of imagery, symbolism, tone, and depth. The depth in his poems appears to be most often portrayed through his use of symbolism, as this is one veritable way to give the reader something to dwell upon and examine. For example, if Frost were to talk about something as elementary as a bee, which he was known to often write of, and his intent was to solely illustrate the bee itself, he would not instill upon the reader an image of something else.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Robert Frost is an amazing poet that many admire today. He is an inspiration to many poets today. His themes and ideas are wonderful and are valued by many. His themes are plentiful however a main one used is the theme of nature. Frost uses nature to express his views as well as to make his poetry interesting and easy to imagine in your mind through the detail he supplies.