In Robert Frost’s poem “Birches” the poem does not vaguely say who the narrator is but it is assumed it is a man. The poem draws a parallel between two worlds. The poem takes place on a winter morning in the woods with icy white birch trees scattering the landscape. The poem is not about the landscape, but rather the narrator images of his past. The birch tree’s branches question the narrator to what is real and what is not. This “swinging” event has a great effect on the narrator causing him to imagine “some boy's been swinging” in the birch tree “bending them to the left and right.” This is where reality takes over his imagination because of the fact that “swinging doesn't bend them down to stay”; ice-storms do that. The swinging and swaying of the branches has great consequences on the narrator. The narrator is taken from reality and talks of an escape from the reality of life. He wants to be on Earth again because "earth's the right place for love." He wants the leaving to be temporary. Swinging on the birch branch is a temporary departure from his own reality, it is his imagination. Reaching “heaven” is contingent on the fact that the narrator must reach towards those “higher branches.” Climbing the trunk slowly, “always pushing upward further away from imperfect burning, weeping, earth and truth but always ready at the top of the arc to swing back down to Earth again.”The narrator talks about what real effect that nature’s ice has on birch trees. Nature causes the branches to be weighed down. This event also has a consequence on the narrator. The narrator again shifts from the world of reality to the world of imagination.
The narrator’s creative imagination is based on the scene of mangled broken birch tree branches, “arche...
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...them to leave each other alone. I live next door to a family who has a white wooden fence between their yard and ours. We do not have a fence but rather a row of arborvitae trees. During this past summer our neighbor fixed the rotting part of their fence, which really hit home for me with this poem. There is a bit of fact to the idea that, “good fences make good neighbors.” But most people would not initially think of it that way. I believe that if a neighbor puts a tall fence to divide the property, they want no good neighbor but the fence itself to divide the two properties. Tearing down dividing walls leads to community and knowing one another. However putting up dividers leads an almost non-existent knowledge of the other neighbor. Neighbors may disagree whether to have a wall, a fence, or divider to separate them, but in fact, “good fences make good neighbors.”
The first line, “the axe rings in the wood,” provides an auditory image: the reader imagines the sharp cracking noise of an axe colliding with wood ringing out across the poem’s setting. “Rings” is also an interesting verb to use, as it invokes the rings found within a tree when it is cut open by something like an axe. The description of splitting wood also connects the piece to the pastoral tradition, which often celebrates physical labor and utilizing nature to provide for one’s needs.
families, or ethnicities. Robert Frost wrote of fences in his poem ―Mending Wall‖ showing how
Robert Frost is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. Frost’s work has been regarded by many as unique. Frost’s poems mainly take place in nature, and it is through nature that he uses sense appealing-vocabulary to immerse the reader into the poem. In the poem, “Hardwood Groves”, Frost uses a Hardwood Tree that is losing its leaves as a symbol of life’s vicissitudes. “Frost recognizes that before things in life are raised up, they must fall down” (Bloom 22).
Mending Wall written by Robert Frost, describes the relationship between two neighbors and idea of maintaining barriers. Where one of them feels that there is no need of this wall, 'There where it is we do not need the wall: He is all pine and I am apple orchard.' On the other hand his neighbor remains unconvinced and follows inherited wisdom passed down to him by his father, 'Good fences make good neighbors.' They even kept the wall while mending it, this reflect that they never interact with each other, ?We keep the wall between us as we go?. Robert Frost has maintained this literal meaning of physical barriers but it does contain metaphor as representation of these physical barriers separating the neighbors and also their friendship.
In the poem, it seems that somebody is inside his or her dwelling place looking outside at a tree. The person is marveling at how the tree can withstand the cold weather, continuous snow, and other harsh conditions that the winter brings. Witnessed throughout the days of winter by the person in the window, the tree’s bark stays strong, however the winter snow has been able to penetrate it. The tree becomes frozen, but it is strong enough to live throughout the winter until the spring relieves its suffering. When spring finally arrives, the effects of winter can no longer harm the tree. The freezing stage is gone, and the tree can give forth new life and growth in the springtime.
“Mending Wall” is about two neighbors who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating estates, it also acts as a barrier in the neighbors' friendship, separating them. For the neighbor with the “pine trees” (line 24), the wall is of great significance, as it provides a sense of security and privacy. He believes that although two people can still be friendly neighbors, some form of barrier is needed to separate them and “wall in” the personal space and privacy of the individual. This is shown through his repeated saying, “good fences make good neighbors” (line 27-45). The neighbor’s property is a representation of his privacy and the wall acts as a barrier against intrusion.
“When I see birches bend to left and right Across the lines of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.” Childhood is represented when the branches swing Frost thinks there is a boy swinging on them. Adulthood is represented by straighter darker trees because darker is a reference to older trees just by the nature of the color as compared to a birch tree which is white or light in color. “But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay. Ice storms do. Often you must have seen them Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning. After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel....
When building walls, or choosing not to, personal experiences and knowledge should always be taken into consideration. In order to decipher when it’s appropriate to put up walls and when it is not, we must give ourselves time to not only think but to absorb what has occurred. Walls are put up for all different types of reasons. In some cases, they are necessary and in others, they tend to not make much sense. In Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall,” the wall built between the two properties makes complete sense to the neighbor, but to the narrator it is unreasonable and hard to decipher.
2. The poem starts off with a white spider on a white heal-all which holds onto a white moth. Just the knowledge of knowing that it is a spider, not to mention a fat spider, it has a negative connotations because no one really likes them to be honest. Spiders symbolize death and mystery. As for the heal-all, it is a plant that is commonly used for medicinal purposes. The rhyme scheme and vowel sounds emphasized that they are ‘characters of death and blight.’
The theme of the poem is about two neighbours who disagree over the need of a wall to separate their properties. Not only does the wall act as a divider in separating estates, it also acts as a barrier in the neighbours' friendship, separating them. For the neighbour with the pine trees, the wall is of great significance, as it provides a sense of security and privacy. He believes that although two people can still be friendly neighbours, some form of barrier is needed to separate them and 'wall in' the personal space and privacy of the individual. This is shown through his repeated saying, 'good fences make good neighbours' (line 27). The neighbour's property is a representation of his privacy and the wall acts as a barrier against intrusion.
"Neighbor" is here a metaphor for two people who are emotionally close to each other. "Good fences make good neighbors", is a line the author emphasizes by using it two times. The "neighbor" says the line while the main character does not agree with it. He can not see that there is something between them they need to be "walling in or walling out".
think this creates a vivid image for the reader. He goes on to say that
To begin with, a poem that represents Frost’s childhood is “A Peck of Gold.” Robert Frost once said, “But I was one of the children told / some of the dust was really gold” (Frost 7-8). This poem talks about Frost’s walks with his mother around the city. He lived in San Francisco and would notice the Golden Gate Bridge and the lasting impacts of the Gold Rush on the town as he walked. As Frost noticed these things, he would come to the conclusion that some of the things he saw must really be made of gold. This poem is able to show how mystified Frost was by the city in which he lived. It also shows just how close he and his mother were. Just as “A Peck of Gold” represented his childhood, the poem “Birches” does as well.
When a wall is encountered literally and physically, there are many different ways in which a person can react to the situation. One group of people would generally just find a way over or around the obstacle. While some other people might pursue a way directly through the wall. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but they both exist as outcomes to the same dilemma. The basic wall has been around with humans for as long as the discovery of masonry has been around. Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall is one such example of how a wall can have conflicting properties of human interaction. The neighbor in the poem says that “fences make good neighbors” and that the two neighbors involved with the wall rebuild it each spring and they enjoy fixing the wall with each other. The poem just helps illustrate that walls are an important factor in human activities. Walls are not limited to any specific culture or region and still they continue to be built over time.
“Mending Wall” is a poem that presents two opposing attitudes towards keeping barriers up between people. Each neighbor has a different opinion. One neighbor wants a visible line to separate their property lines and the other sees no reason for it. The poem implies a lack of security and trust one person may have towards another, even when it may not seem illogical or necessary.