The Poetry of Robert Frost

Robert Frost has long been recognised as one of America’s greatest poets. Each poem begins with a straightforward description of a place or situation and then gently moves towards commentary and reflection on human life. There are life lessons to be learned in every poem which appeal to the reader both intellectually and emotionally. Frost deals with various aspects of human life throughout his poetry, such as; childhood, relationships, death, decision making, depression etc. Frost expresses these themes and emotions in a very personal way and yet each can be interpreted on a universal level.

For example ‘The Road Not Taken’ deals with the complexities of decision making.

By using the metaphorical image of ‘two roads diverged’ Frost highlights for us the obstacles, choices and decisions we are faced with every day and how the way in which we handle these choices are life changing, just as his choice ‘made all the difference’. We are given an insight into human nature as most people seem to have chosen the same path except the narrator, who ‘took the one less travelled by’.

‘The Road Not Taken’ is written in the first person and so is very personal. Frost uses very simple, direct, conversational language and an abaab rhyme scheme as well as the beautiful metaphorical image of ‘two roads diverged in a yellow wood’ to add depth to the poem.

Similarly in “Acquainted with the night” we are completely focused on the poet’s actions as this poem is also written in the first person, so again it has a very personal aspect to it.

Frost sees the world as a lonely, bleak, depressing place as he ‘walked out in the rain’ and ‘looked down the saddest city lane’. The last stanza shows that time to those in isolation is irrelevant. ‘Th...

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... straightforward that it becomes clear to us that Frost sees life as being precious, fragile and brief. There seems to be an absence of emotion on the family’s part as they simply carried on as though nothing had happened. Here, Frost shows us that even after a shocking tragedy, life must go on.

From these examples it is clear that Frost’s poems are concerned with human tragedies and fears, his reaction to the complexities of life, and his ultimate acceptance of its burdens. He manages to capture both the beautiful and the dark side to life in a very simple way.

Robert Frost illustrates life, love and loss in the most natural and beautiful way feasible. His style is uniquely his own, and his themes are ones that many people can relate to on countless levels, which is what made Frost so popular during his lifetime, and has continued four decades after his death.