Robert Frost: Writing Style.

As a poet, Robert Frost was greatly influenced by the emotions and events of everyday life.
Within a seemingly boring event from a normal day—watching the ice weigh down the branches
of a birch tree, mending the stones of a wall, mowing a field of hay—Frost discerned a deeper
meaning, a metaphysical expression of a larger theme such as love, hate, or conflict.
Frost is perhaps most famous for being a pastoral poet in terms of the subject of everyday life.
Many of his most famous poems (such as “Mending Wall” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening” and “Road not Taken”) are inspired by the natural world, particularly his time spent as
a poultry farmer in New Hampshire. Ironically, until his adulthood in New England, Frost was
primarily a “city boy” who spent nearly all of his time in an urban environment. It is possibly
because of his late introduction to the rural side of New England that Frost became so intrigued
by the natural world.

After the publication of his Collected Poems in 1930, Frost clarified his interest in the pastoral
world as a subject for his poetry, writing: “Poetry is more often of the country than the city…
Poetry is very, very rural – rustic. It might be taken as a symbol of man, taking its rise from
individuality and seclusion – written first for the person that writes and then going out into its
social appeal and use.” Yet Frost does not limit himself to expressing the pastoral only in terms
of beauty and peace, as in a traditional sense. Instead, he also chooses to emphasize the harsh
conflicts of the natural world: the clash between urban and rural lifestyles, the unbound emotions
and struggles inherent in rural life, even the sense of loss and simultaneous growth that
accompanies the changing of the seasons.
Frost’s poetry is also significant because of the amount of autobiographical material that it
contains. Frost was not a happy man; he suffered from serious bouts of depression and anxiety
throughout his life and was never convinced that his poetry was truly worthwhile (as evidenced
by his obsessive desire to receive a Nobel Prize). He suffered through the untimely deaths of his
father, mother, and sister, as well as four of his six children and his beloved wife, all of which
contributed to the melancholic mentality that appears in much of Frost’s work.

The raw emotion and sense of loss that pervades Frost’s poetry is particularly clear because of
his straightforward verse style. Although he worked within some traditional poetic forms
(usually iambic meter), he was also flexible and changed the requirements of the form if it
conflicted with the expression of a particular line. Yet, even as he was willing to utilize the basic
conventions of some poetic forms, Frost refused to sacrifice the clarity of his poetry. With that in
mind, he was particularly interested in what he called “the sound of sense,” a poetic belief
system in which the sound of the poetry (rhythm, rhyme, syllables) is as important to the overall
work as the actual words. Therefore, in poems such as “Mowing” and “Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening,” Frost’s use of particular words and rhythmic structure creates an aural sense of
the mood and subject of the piece even as the words outline the narrative.
Frost’s use of “the sound of sense” is most successful because of the general clarity and even
colloquial nature of his poetry. At one point in his life, he asserted, “All poetry is a reproduction
of the tones of actual speech.” Although this quotation is perhaps a generalization of Frost’s
poetic style, it does speak to the accessibility and simplicity that has made Frost’s poetry so
appealing to so many readers for decades. Because of the clarity of the sounds in his work, both
in terms of the narrative and in terms of “the sound of sense,” the readers are able to comprehend
the basic emotion of a poem almost instantly and then explore the deeper, more metaphysical
meanings behind each simple line.

During his beginnings as a poet, Frost was often criticized for using such a colloquial tone in his
poetry. When his first poem was published in The Independent in 1894, the acceptance was
accompanied by a copy of Lanier’s “Science of English Verse,” a not so subtle suggestion that
Frost needed to work on mastering a more traditional tone and meter. Even after his success as a
poetic was assured, Frost was still censured by some for writing seemingly simplistic poetry,
works that were not reminiscent of high art.
Yet even though Frost’s poetry is simple and clear, Richard Wilbur points out that it is not
written in the colloquial language of an uneducated farm boy, but rather in “a beautifully refined
and charged colloquial language.” In other words, Frost’s ability to express such a depth of
feeling in each of his poems through the medium of colloquial speech reveals a far greater grasp
of the human language than many of his critics would admit. It is because of the clarity of his
poetry that his poems are beloved and studied in high schools throughout the United States, and
it is also because of this clarity that Frost is able to explore topics of emotion, struggle, and
conflict that would be incomprehensible in any other form.

Robert Frost: Poems Summary and Analysis of "Mending Wall" (1914)

Every year, two neighbors meet to repair the stone wall that divides their property. The narrator
is skeptical of this tradition, unable to understand the need for a wall when there is no livestock
to be contained on the property, only apples and pine trees. He does not believe that a wall
should exist simply for the sake of existing. Moreover, he cannot help but notice that the natural
world seems to dislike the wall as much as he does: mysterious gaps appear, boulders fall for no
reason. The neighbor, on the other hand, asserts that the wall is crucial to maintaining their
relationship, asserting, “Good fences make good neighbors.” Over the course of the mending, the
narrator attempts to convince his neighbor otherwise and accuses him of being old-fashioned for
maintaining the tradition so strictly. No matter what the narrator says, though, the neighbor
stands his ground, repeating only: “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Analysis

This poem is the first work in Frost's second book of poetry, “North of Boston,” which was
published upon his return from England in 1915. While living in England with his family, Frost
was exceptionally homesick for the farm in New Hampshire where he had lived with his wife
from 1900 to 1909. Despite the eventual failure of the farm, Frost associated his time in New
Hampshire with a peaceful, rural sensibility that he instilled in the majority of his subsequent
poems. “Mending Wall” is autobiographical on an even more specific level: a French-Canadian
named Napoleon Guay had been Frost’s neighbor in New Hampshire, and the two had often
walked along their property line and repaired the wall that separated their land. Ironically, the
most famous line of the poem (“Good fences make good neighbors”) was not invented by Frost
himself, but was rather a phrase that Guay frequently declared to Frost during their walks. This
particular adage was a popular colonial proverb in the middle of the 17th century, but variations
of it also appeared in Norway (“There must be a fence between good neighbors”), Germany
(“Between neighbor’s gardens a fence is good”), Japan (“Build a fence even between intimate
friends”), and even India (“Love your neighbor, but do not throw down the dividing wall”).

In terms of form, “Mending Wall” is not structured with stanzas; it is a simple forty-five lines of
first-person narrative. Frost does maintain iambic stresses, but he is flexible with the form in
order to maintain the conversational feel of the poem. He also shies away from any obvious
rhyme patterns and instead relies upon the occasional internal rhyme and the use of assonance in
certain ending terms (such as “wall,” “hill,” “balls,” “well”).

In the poem itself, Frost creates two distinct characters who have different ideas about what
exactly makes a person a good neighbor. The narrator deplores his neighbor’s preoccupation
with repairing the wall; he views it as old-fashioned and even archaic. After all, he quips, his
apples are not going to invade the property of his neighbor’s pinecones. Moreover, within a land
of such of such freedom and discovery, the narrator asks, are such borders necessary to maintain
relationships between people? Despite the narrator’s skeptical view of the wall, the neighbor
maintains his seemingly “old-fashioned” mentality, responding to each of the narrator’s
disgruntled questions and rationalizations with nothing more than the adage: “Good fences make
good neighbors.”

As the narrator points out, the very act of mending the wall seems to be in opposition to nature.
Every year, stones are dislodged and gaps suddenly appear, all without explanation. Every year,
the two neighbors fill the gaps and replace the fallen boulders, only to have parts of the wall fall
over again in the coming months. It seems as if nature is attempting to destroy the barriers that
man has created on the land, even as man continues to repair the barriers, simply out of habit and
tradition.

Ironically, while the narrator seems to begrudge the annual repairing of the wall, Frost subtley
points out that the narrator is actually more active than the neighbor. It is the narrator who selects
the day for mending and informs his neighbor across the property. Moreover, the narrator
himself walks along the wall at other points during the year in order to repair the damage that has
been done by local hunters. Despite his skeptical attitude, it seems that the narrator is even more
tied to the tradition of wall-mending than his neighbor. Perhaps his skeptical questions and quips
can then be read as an attempt to justify his own behavior to himself. While he chooses to
present himself as a modern man, far beyond old-fashioned traditions, the narrator is really no
different from his neighbor: he too clings to the concept of property and division, of ownership
and individuality.

Ultimately, the presence of the wall between the properties does ensure a quality relationship
between the two neighbors. By maintaining the division between the properties, the narrator and
his neighbor are able to maintain their individuality and personal identity as farmers: one of
apple trees, and one of pine trees. Moreover, the annual act of mending the wall also provides an
opportunity for the two men to interact and communicate with each other, an event that might
not otherwise occur in an isolated rural environment. The act of meeting to repair the wall allows
the two men to develop their relationship and the overall community far more than if each
maintained their isolation on separate properties.

Robert Frost: Poems Summary and Analysis of "The Road Not Taken" (1916)
The narrator comes upon a fork in the road while walking through a yellow wood. He considers
both paths and concludes that each one is equally well-traveled and appealing. After choosing
one of the roads, the narrator tells himself that he will come back to this fork one day in order to
try the other road. However, he realizes that it is unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity
to come back to this specific point in time because his choice of path will simply lead to other
forks in the road (and other decisions). The narrator ends on a nostalgic note, wondering how
different things would have been had he chosen the other path.

Analysis

This poem is made up of four stanzas of five lines, each with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB.

Along with “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” this poem is one of Frost’s most beloved
works and is frequently studied in high school literature classes. Since its publication, many
readers have analyzed the poem as a nostalgic commentary on life choices. The narrator decided
to seize the day and express himself as an individual by choosing the road that was “less traveled
by.” As a result of this decision, the narrator claims, his life was fundamentally different that it
would have been had he chosen the more well-traveled path.

This reading of the poem is extremely popular because every reader can empathize with the
narrator’s decision: having to choose between two paths without having any knowledge of where
each road will lead. Moreover, the narrator’s decision to choose the “less traveled” path
demonstrates his courage. Rather than taking the safe path that others have traveled, the narrator
prefers to make his own way in the world.

However, when we look closer at the text of the poem, it becomes clear that such an idealistic
analysis is largely inaccurate. The narrator only distinguishes the paths from one another after he
has already selected one and traveled many years through life. When he first comes upon the
fork in the road, the paths are described as being fundamentally identical. In terms of beauty,
both paths are equally “fair,” and the overall “…passing there / Had worn them really about the
same.”

It is only as an old man that the narrator looks back on his life and decides to place such
importance on this particular decision in his life. During the first three stanzas, the narrator
shows no sense of remorse for his decision nor might any acknowledgement that such a decision
be important to his life. Yet, as an old man, the narrator attempts to give a sense of order to his
past and perhaps explain why certain things happened to him. Of course, the excuse that he took
the road “less traveled by” is false, but the narrator still clings to this decision as a defining
moment of his life, not only because of the path that he chose but because he had to make a
choice in the first place.

Robert Frost: Poems Summary and Analysis of "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"
(1923)
On a dark winter evening, the narrator stops his sleigh to watch the snow falling in the woods. At
first he worries that the owner of the property will be upset by his presence, but then he
remembers that the owner lives in town, and he is free to enjoy the beauty of the falling snow.
The sleigh horse is confused by his master’s behavior — stopping far away from any farmhouse
— and shakes his harness bells in impatience. After a few more moments, the narrator
reluctantly continues on his way.

Analysis

In terms of text, this poem is remarkably simple: in sixteen lines, there is not a single three-
syllable word and only sixteen two-syllable words. In terms of rhythmic scheme and form,
however, the poem is surprisingly complex. The poem is made up of four stanzas, each with four
stressed syllables in iambic meter. Within an individual stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines
rhyme (for example, “know,” “though,” and “snow” of the first stanza), while the third line
rhymes with the first, second, and fourth lines of the following stanza (for example, “here” of the
first stanza rhymes with “queer,” “near,” and “year” of the second stanza).

One of Frost’s most famous works, this poem is often touted as an example of his life work. As
such, the poem is often analyzed to the minutest detail, far beyond what Frost himself intended
for the short and simple piece. In reference to analyses of the work, Frost once said that he was
annoyed by those “pressing it for more than it should be pressed for. It means enough without its
being pressed…I don’t say that somebody shouldn’t press it, but I don’t want to be there.”

The poem was inspired by a particularly difficult winter in New Hampshire when Frost was
returning home after an unsuccessful trip at the market. Realizing that he did not have enough to
buy Christmas presents for his children, Frost was overwhelmed with depression and stopped his
horse at a bend in the road in order to cry. After a few minutes, the horse shook the bells on its
harness, and Frost was cheered enough to continue home.

The narrator in the poem does not seem to suffer from the same financial and emotional burdens
as Frost did, but there is still an overwhelming sense of the narrator’s unavoidable
responsibilities. He would prefer to watch the snow falling in the woods, even with his horse’s
impatience, but he has “promises to keep,” obligations that he cannot ignore even if he wants to.
It is unclear what these specific obligations are, but Frost does suggest that the narrator is
particularly attracted to the woods because there is “not a farmhouse near.” He is able to enjoy
complete isolation.

Frost’s decision to repeat the final line could be read in several ways. On one hand, it reiterates
the idea that the narrator has responsibilities that he is reluctant to fulfill. The repetition serves as
a reminder, even a mantra, to the narrator, as if he would ultimately decide to stay in the woods
unless he forces himself to remember his responsibilities. On the other hand, the repeated line
could be a signal that the narrator is slowly falling asleep. Within this interpretation, the poem
could end with the narrator’s death, perhaps as a result of hypothermia from staying in the frozen
woods for too long.

The narrator’s “promises to keep” can also be seen as a reference to traditional American duties
for a farmer in New England. In a time and a place where hard work is valued above all things,
the act of watching snow fall in the woods may be viewed as a particularly trivial indulgence.
Even the narrator is aware that his behavior is not appropriate: he projects his insecurities onto
his horse by admitting that even a work animal would “think it queer.”