Robert Frost's Poetry

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Robert Frost's Poetry

Robert Frost said that a poem should begin in delight and end in

wisdom Do you think that is true of the poems of Frost and the other

nature poets you have studied?

Frost's statement in the title is certainly true in some of his later

poems and most nature poems, but in some cases, the wisdom comes first

and delight is found at the end or, there is no delight only wisdom

or, just delight or just wisdom. Not all poems abide by Frost's rule!

'The Pasture', being one of Frost's earlier poems, possibly was

written before he made the statement in the title, as I am unable to

find any wisdom hidden amid the lines, only a great deal of delight.

The poem is written using iambic metre, with a clear rhythm. In the

eight lines he uses, he creates clear delightful images for the

reader. The poem gravitates around the theme of a country farmer's

duties, except reading between the lines; this farmer enjoys carrying

out these duties. He says that he will 'only stop to rake the leaves

away' which gives the impression of him really wanting to 'stop' for

longer and perhaps do some other jobs. After cleaning the 'pasture

spring' he considers waiting 'to watch the water clear', this can be

interpreted in different ways. Perhaps he wanted to make sure he had

done the job properly, or it could be that he takes delight in

watching the waters clear and wants to wait watch 'it clear' or

perhaps it could be simply that he wants the moment to last, as he

enjoys it so. In life I generally find that things I do not enjoy drag

on and on, seemingly taking longer that they actually are, yet things

that I enjoy seem to go faster. 'I shan't be long' indicates that he

knows that he is going to enjoy his tasks an...

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...poem,

in fact that it surrounds the poem, with the delight vocabulary in

amongst it. I consider the wisdom of this poem to be that we should

all earn our life. Frost has demonstrated how the bird earns his, but

it has raised the question what do we do to earn ours. This is an

interesting angle to look at life from and must not be over looked; we

should all give something back to the Earth, and earn our living

space.

After studying all these poems, I am now far more aware of plenty of

points of view, thoughts and feelings. Each poem showed a different

aspect on life, even though the message in some was similar. In

conclusion, I deem the poets I have come across, highly calculated,

intelligent individuals, wishing to share their ideas on the world

with others. Their use of poetry as their line of communication to

express themselves, is incredibly good!

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