Poems by R. Frost

For one reason or another, I have always admired Robert Frost.  One thing that I like is that he lived in New Hampshire and he spent many years writing on New England landscapes.  He has as much imagery and description of any American poet and his meditations strike me in a good way.  So when I saw a few of Frost’s compilations in the book store I was eager to get one and check out some of his lesser-known poetry.

“The Road Not Taken” is the featured poem in this book. That is one of my favorite poems, and it is just one of about 40 works of poetry from Frost.  I also spent some time reading some of his other books in the store that interested me.  When I flipped through the pages, a few things stood out to me.  First, the poems were generally one or two pages long and the lines were short as well.  Second, most of the titles of the poems described one single scene or person.  The poems are simple, and direct.  For example, “An Encounter,” “House Fear,” “The Smile,” and “The Impulse” are four short poems that focus on one simple subject.  Finally, Frost’s form is evident from just glancing at the poems.  There are many sonnets written in different styles of prosody – mostly iambic pentameter.  There are a few narratives as well, but generally it is in lyric form.  There are many different rhyme schemes and the lines are both end-stopped and enjambed.

One poem that I was fascinated by was “The Bonfire.”  This poem was written in a narrative form and there was no real rhyme scheme.  It tells the story of some mischievous kids who are looking to spice up their night and earn a name for themselves in the town in the process.  “Oh, let’s go up the hill and scare ourselves, / As reckless as the best of them to-night / By setting fire to the brush we piled/ With pitchy hands to wait for rain or snow.”  The wind picks up and the entire hill upon which the kid built his bonfire becomes ablaze.  Frost’s description of the uncontrollable fire and helplessness of the children is striking.  He concludes with a lesson about innocence and how war has corrupted not just the men of society, but the children too.  The bridge he constructs between a fire and war is remarkable and puts the reader to the test.

This book is a just a forum for exhibiting some of Frost’s best work, rather than being set up to promote some sort of overarching message.  The poems however do seem to be organized by theme.  There is no unique ending or beginning though.

I love how Frost tackles simple, every day subjects similarly to the ‘familiarizing the unfamiliar’ assignment we worked on.  On more than one account he wrote about Snow, comparing it to newspapers and providing the setting for multiple scenic masterpieces.  I will try to use his simple understanding of nature to influence my own writings.  Maybe just a metaphor or simile mixed in with my poetry, or maybe using his writings for inspiration on a whole new poetry based on landscapes, I feel this book of writings is tremendously valuable as a writer.