Home Burial

905 Words2 Pages

Home Burial Robert Frost’s “Home Burial” is a very well written poem about a husband’s and a wife’s loss. Their first born child has died recently. Amy and her husband deal with their loss in two very different ways, which cause problems. Amy seems like she confines their child to the grave. She never seems to le go of the fact she has lost her first child. Amy’s husband buried their child himself. This allowed him to let go and live a normal life. Amy does not understand how he could do what he did. Therefore, she wants to have nothing to do with him, especially talk to him. He doesn’t understand why she can’t let go, and why she won’t talk to him. He tries to get her to tell him why, but she just wants to go to someone else. She will not talk to him or let him talk to her because he always speaks offensively. This lack of communication was there before the death, which I think will be the downfall of their marriage. Frost’s use of imagery and tone allow the reader to see and feel what Amy and her husband are going through. Frost uses a lot of imagery in “Home Burial” to give the reader a look at what is going on. The first line, “He saw her from the bottom of the stairs / Before she saw him,” lets the reader know Amy is at the top of the stairs, and her husband is at the bottom. He uses imagery to show many things such as facial expressions, movement from one place to another, and to describe a scene. He shows expressions in line eight “And her face changed from terrified to dull,” line forty-three “He sat and fixed his chin between his fists,” and line one-hundred and thirteen “…You’re crying.” By “seeing” these expressions, the reader can almost feel what is going on in Amy’s and her husband’s head. Line eight lets ... ... middle of paper ... ...ad at Amy for being so negative toward him. The fact that he buried their child with his own two hands, and goes on each day like nothing ever happened makes Amy very mad. He also stays mad at her for always going to someone else to talk to. This anger goes back and forth throughout the whole poem. The negative tone lets the reader almost feel what Amy and her husband are going through. In Conclusion, imagery and tone work together to give the reader a sense of feeling what Amy and her husband are going through. Robert Frost wrote this poem shortly after his own son died, which could have been the central purpose of the poem. I believe one of the main themes of the poem is that communication is a very important thing in a relationship. Amy’s and her husband’s relationship might have been all right if they had just been able to communicate with each other.

Show More
Related

  • The injustice Within Tess of the D’Urbervilles and in Robert Frost's Poetry

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s that have a much defined rhyme scheme. Therefore, the poem becomes a more serious and personal epilogue to seal the past behind him, perhaps, having therapeutic aspects for Frost himself in retelling the grief they (Frost and his wife) went through. The title of the poem ‘Home Burial’ itself could be read as a double-entendre; these being the death and the burial of a child and the symbolic death of a marriage. An alternative narrative line has been concluded by Benjamin West saying ‘The true subject of the poem – from a biographical perspective – is the death of Frost’s nephew, child of his sister-in-law Leona White Harvey, in 1895. It was her relationship with her husband that inspired the poem.’ (West:2011). This alternative opinion conveys that ‘Home Burial’ is not about Frost’s own life although many other critics conceive it is about the death of his son.

    Read More

  • Robert Frost: Iceman for the Ages

    909 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Frost is undoubtedly gifted when it comes to his poetry, but not all aspects of his life were so easy. One of the most troubling areas in Frost’s life was his family. He held a long term engagement to his wife Elinor, whom he pleaded to marry. Also, his children were plagued with birth defects, terminal illness, and emotional instability. The Frosts lost four of their children at an early age, including daughter Elinor Bettina who died three days after birth. In 1938, after months of deteriorating health, Frost’s wife Elinor died of heart failure. Frost was so shaken that he collapsed and could not attend the memorial services. Later, in 1940, Frost was utterly disturbed by his son Carol’s suicide.

    Read More

  • A Writer's Approach to Death

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although death seems to be a theme for many literary poems, it also appears to be the most difficult to express clearly. Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “death” as, “A permanent cessation of all vital function: end of life.” While this definition sounds simple enough, a writer’s definition goes way beyond the literal meaning. Edwin Arlington Robinson and Robert Frost are just two examples of poetic writers who have used death successfully as the main theme of their works. Robinson, in the poem “Richard Cory,” and Frost in his poem, “Home Burial,” present death in different ways in order to invoke different feelings and emotions from their readers.

    Read More

  • Robert Frost Essay Writing

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    After learning about Robert Frost personally, I can understand his inspiration and appreciate the meaning behind his poetry. Following his technique throughout his pieces, it’s clear that his origin and relationships greatly influenced his style and the themes portrayed in his poetry. From landscape, to human nature, Frost creates everlasting feelings within his audience that by the enable them to learn a hidden message. Also, his common New England lingo and conversational speech, personalize the poem. From late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, Robert Frost has shared his works with the entire world and his influence and impact on today’s society will never be forgotten.

    Read More

  • Modern Frost

    1980 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frost is far more than the simple agrarian writer some claim him to be. He is deceptively simple at first glance, writing poetry that is easy to understand on an immediate, superficial level. Closer examination of his texts, however, reveal his thoughts on deeply troubling psychological states of living in a modern world. As bombs exploded and bodies piled up in the World Wars, people were forced to consider not only death, but the aspects of human nature that could allow such atrocities to occur. By using natural themes and images to present modernist concerns, Frost creates poetry that both soothes his readers and asks them to consider the true nature of the world and themselves.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Out, Out by Robert Frost

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frost uses different stylistic devices throughout this poem. He is very descriptive using things such as imagery and personification to express his intentions in the poem. Frost uses imagery when he describes the setting of the place. He tells his readers the boy is standing outside by describing the visible mountain ranges and sets the time of day by saying that the sun is setting. Frost gives his readers an image of the boy feeling pain by using contradicting words such as "rueful" and "laugh" and by using powerful words such as "outcry". He also describes the blood coming from the boy's hand as life that is spilling. To show how the boy is dying, Frost gives his readers an image of the boy breathing shallowly by saying that he is puffing his lips out with his breath.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Millay's Poem, Renascence

    784 Words  | 2 Pages

    By using easy to comprehend language Millay convinces her readers to go along with turbulent and sometimes unrealistic action to convey common feelings for all people. No matter what theme the reader applies to this poem it is important in some way to every reader and has meaning in many situations.

    Read More

  • The Abruptness Of Death In Frost's 'Out, Out'

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the last two lines of the poem, the family does nothing after the boy dies. They do not grieve and merely “turned to their affairs”. A little understated, but simple to understand why. To readers, it seems disbelieving because we imagine the mother and sister breaking down into violent sobs and begging for the boy to come back to life. We also imagine the father blaming himself for allowing his son to handle such a dangerous tool at that age. But if we think about it, all of those things are meaningless. There is nothing the family could have done to save their boy. Therefore, Frost is straightforward with the fact that the family promptly moves

    Read More

  • Comparison and Contrast How Death Effects Lives of Men and Women

    665 Words  | 2 Pages

    The death of a close relative, especially a new born child, is a very terrible life event that tragically affects parents. Grief and desperation preoccupies parent's souls and it takes a long time to recover from such a loss. However, communication between the couple is very important factor that stabilizes the relationship. If this factor is missing in a couple's relationship they will not be able to recover from this tragedy, and it will have further negative effects such as separation and stress. The poem, "Home Burial", is a clear example of how the couple could not recover from the loss of their child due to the lack of communication. In spite of the fact that the characters in the poem are imaginary people, Robert Frost portrayed his personal life events in those character's lives. The unexpected death of a child can lead to a brake up in the family, especially if there is miscommunication between the couple. "Home Burial" illustrates a husband and wife who are unable to talk to each other. It shows details about men's and women's points of view. The characters in the poem will get divorced due to conflicts and difficulties in their relationship.

    Read More

  • Pet Cemetery

    507 Words  | 2 Pages

    to the Pet cemetary. Louis answers her honestly and later Rachel and him have an

    Read More

  • Life and Death in Poetry

    2084 Words  | 5 Pages

    Life and death are two things that we as humans must all face. The road from one to the other, from life to death, is a long and at times, both joyous and painful one. Robert Frost’s poems are a prime example of these times and trials. The poems I chose for this paper highlight them, and with Frost’s allegory, they present a sort of silver lining to the string of dark and dreary words he’s pieced together for these poems. The depressing tone to the poems “Acquainted with the Night”, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowing Evening” could be attributed to the death of many of Frost’s family members, and how despite this he overcame it all, and at the end of his life, was a successful writer. These poems to not go into great explanation of the details of Frost’s life, however, I believe that they are representations of the things path that he’s walked, and how he viewed his actions and death in general.

    Read More

  • Death: Finality or Everlasting Life

    610 Words  | 2 Pages

    The loss of a loved one is an emotional and personal experience, and everyone grieves in their own way. Before the healing process can begin, the deceased must be laid to rest and this is usually accomplished with a funeral service. Many people choose a piece to be read at these ceremonies, such as W.H. Auden’s “Funeral Blues” and Mary Elizabeth Frye’s “Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep.” It is quite thought-provoking to compare the poems, since the subject matter is the same, however each of these works views death from a different perspective, one negative and the other positive.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Robert Frost's 'Home Burial'

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amy cries, “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t” when her husband begins to speak about the dead child, and this does back up the idea that she is unable to reconcile reality with her emotions (Frost 30). They also explain the realistic grasp the husband has on this situation when they say, “ ‘The little graveyard where my people are! /So small the window frames the whole of it.’ At the present, the things of the past are condensed into a mere window to the past” (Hanif, Jamil, and Mahmood 10). The husband establishes himself as a more practical and realistic character when he is identified as a farmer and is shown doing the necessary steps to bury the dead child. As a character that is so realistic the husband cannot understand why Amy, the wife, is so distraught so long after the funeral. Amy believes him to be unable to understand when Frost writes, “She let him look, sure that he wouldn’t see” (Frost 15). The practicality of the husband makes Amy feel like she is unable to share her sorrows with him. Through these explanations of the characters Hanif, Jamil, and Mahmood effectively show how the husband and wife’s relationship is quite strained as they write, “According to his husband’s point of view the

    Read More

  • An Insight on Robert Frost's Life

    836 Words  | 2 Pages

    Initially, Robert Frost went through numerous challenges throughout his life. Not only was he raised by a single mother, he was also faced with an agonizing death of his daughter Marjorie. In addition to the death of his third daughter, the Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature notes that “In the 1930s, Frost suffered the painful death of another daughter” (570). Adding to the death of two of his daughters, he also had two of his sons die. One son, Carol, took his own life. Frost was diagnosed with pneumonia at the age of 32 and almost died as well. Frost also suffered from an emotional crisis for periods of time in his life. Frost and many members of his family battled the serious medical disease of depression. Frost was forced to put his sister and one of his daughters into mental institutions due to depression, and his sister later died in the institution. The death of Fro...

    Read More

  • Robert Frost Criticism

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frost uses symbolism throughout all his works. In A Patch of Old Snow the narrator notices the patch of snow and assumes that it is something else instead straightaway. The snow was a symbol of the winter season while it was new and white but after a few weeks on the ground it is dirty and not cared about anymore like an old newspaper, which Frost compares it to. The narrator feels at fault about the misidentification and believes that he should have been able to acknowledge the snow right away and he should have recognized the beauty of winter as well. Then the narrator says the dirt on the snow looks like the print of a newspapers so it was not his fault for making the mistake and he should not have to take responsibility for the mistake. The narrator says the beauty of winter is only present in the perfect white and n...

    Read More

More about Home Burial

Open Document