The Themes of Robert Frosts Poetry
The main themes of Robert frosts poetry are: Nature and mans interaction with it. Also real people and real struggle; the deeper meanings of everyday life. For this essay I will discuss ‘mending wall’, ‘the road not taken’, ‘out, out-‘ and ‘provide, provide’. Mending wall is about a stone wall separating the speaker’s property from his neighbour’s. In spring, the two meet to walk the wall and make any necessary repairs. The speaker sees no reason for the wall to be kept as there are no livestock to contain. This wall building act seems to have ancient roots.
It involves spells to stop the elves or whoever from breaking the wall. The neighbor appears a stone-age savage while hoisting and re-building the wall. This poem deals with nature and peoples interactions with it. By keeping the wall in good condition they are keeping their land and also their relationship healthy. The road not taken, in this the speaker stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Both ways are equally worn and overlaid with untrodden leaves. The speaker chooses one telling himself he’ll choose the other another day . et he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportuninty. This fork in the road which shows two paths symbolises free will and fate; we are free to choose, but we do not really know what we are choosing between. This is a real decision real people make in everyday life. In outout frosts decpicts the abrupt death of a young boy whose hand was cut off during an accident with a buzz saw. The boys begs his sister not to allow the doctor to amputate his hand but inwardly realises he has lost too much blood.
The boy dies under anesthesia and everyone goes abck to work. Frost seems to be sayong there was no real need for the boys death and the adults are to bkame in thos situation. Hpwever frost knows death is a part of life. This poem nderlines the inevitability of death and the futitily of life. Provide provide is a reminder that life can be harsh and unforgiving. Frost wrote this poem in hos early sixties and was probably feeling like life was catching up on him. He was beginning to feel his age.
Frosts talks about the facts of getting oler, for example beauty fades and we should enjoy our fifteen minutes of fame because they won’t last . he also offers some advice; make sure you die early so people remember you as young, but if you aren’t lucky enough to die young make a lot of money so you can live and die in comfort. When the time comes to die make sure you surround your self with friends you either made or bought, don’t die alone. The last two lines are also the title reminding us to provide for our old age because no one else will.
This poem features heavily on regret. Frost regrets that he spent too much time living in the present and didn’t put anything aside for hos later years, he seems quite bitter about this. This poem is also about mortality and the face that old, and subsequently death, happens to everyone. Robert frost deals with life issues in his poetry. He writes openly about his opinions on life and death. These topics affect us all and therefore we can relate to them.
