Frost - a short eulogy, and a cry for help :P

[kandaurov]

I first heard of him when I saw a great quote about happiness, you know, makes up in height what it lacks in length. It was only a few months ago that I came across a poem of his, "The Road not Taken". A glimpse of perfection, if you ask me.

Then I moved on to others. His long, rhymeless "Birches" and "On Looking up by Chance at the Constellations", are like lyrical monologues touchingly meaningful. I even picked as an epigraph the last two lines of "Desert Places".

I haven't had access to many poems of his, but I can tell that his creative use of the rhyme is outstanding, and the theme of Nature is superbly depicted.

In fact, most of his poems are about Nature, reflect harmony, and give the reader a sense of well-being. Did Frost ever write about the dark side of Man, or anything gloomy, for that matter? I have never seen a poem from him with a negative tone, so I'm just curious. Can anyone help me? Thanks!

[Rose Kreuz]

You could say that Fire and Ice talks about the dark side of man, here's a link: ketzle.com/frost/fireice.htm. Kind of "end-of-the-worldish".

[Logos]

The Literature Network hosts a large collection of Frost's poetry and a biography here: http://www.online-literature.com/frost/ :D

[kandaurov]

Why, thank you both! Will check that poem, Rose. And Logos, didn't know the LitNet had such a great database, thanks for the info :)

[macdahet]

read design !!!!!!!!! trust me you will like it and it's very dark

[kandaurov]

Wow, thanks for registering on this forum to answer my appeal! The poem's great, I liked it a lot. And welcome aboard :)

[Aus. Lit. Kid]

Hi there,
You were asking whether he wrote anything morbid in his poetry... I've been studying Frost and looked in detail at a number of his poems to present a tutorial focussing particularly on "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening". Many people think that some of his poetry including "Stopping by woods", "After Apple-Picking" and "Nothing Gold Can Stay" are morbid but I disagree. These three poems talk about death and describe how temporary life is. However, his obsessions are nature and its cycles, and barriers between man and nature. In "Nothing Gold Can Stay", many people believe that the simple pleasure the persona experiences is temporary which leads the persona to reflect on how beauty fades. However, what they forget to see at the end, is that the persona eludes to how one thing (though beautiful) must end or die, to complete the cycle of life and something else, more beautiful, must take its place. I think the darkest poem I have read by Frost was probably "Home Burial", (but perhaps I think it's dark because I don't like it much...). Anyway, the wife in that peom talks about how everyone is alone in life no matter how close you are to someone - even, or especially if you're married. Frost also reinforces this in "Mending Wall", which is much more jovial than "Home Burial". I don't think that Frost was a lonely or depressed man and though his poems reflect themes of death and suicide, he never intended to kill himself as such. So I think that you are right, his poetry is very light and his use of rhythm and rhyme carry his feelings of tranquility. Frost's poetry is not designed for intellectual analysation, but simply for emotional response that is carried through a dramatic incident (a simple or mundane activity) that ends in a deeper, wider thought.

"All good poems work in this way - they drop a stone into the pool of our being and ripples spread" Robert Warren

"A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom." Robert Frost

Aus. Lit. Kid. ;)