Figurative Language In Robert Frost's Poem 'Birches'

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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 …show more content…

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

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