Robert Frosts Poems Analysis Example

The human being is an emotional being. People experience all kinds of emotions ranging from happiness, sadness, depression, excitement, anger, anxiety and grief. Emotions play a crucial part in our lives, and their importance cannot be overlooked. Emotions determine how well we do something when to do it and give people a reason to do it. Most things humans do are based on emotions and to call someone emotionless or incapable of feeling is one of the most common social lies. To feel is a norm, it is what makes us human. Songs and poems are based on such feelings, and that is why you will hear of love songs, motivational poems, and so on. Poets are just artists who can put well-crafted words in conjunction with stylistic devices to come up with poems. The goal of this paper is to analyze the following two poems:

Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening, by Robert Frost

The Five Stages of Grief, by Linda Pastan

Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frosts love of nature is clearly elaborated in this poem. In this modern day fast-paced world, people are slowly losing interest in the small things in life. People seem to be obsessed with thinking and dreaming big. This is not a bad thing parse, but then again it is important to realize that life is a collection of small things and Robert Frost knows this only too well. The words he uses to describe his love for nature are outstanding and compelling. In his poem, you can tell that he has a lot of things to do and a long way to go before reaching home but then again, he spares a little of his time to appreciate nature.

This particular woods that Frost finds attractive do not belong to him and stopping by someones property at that time of the day could make him guilty of malice, evil intent as well; as trespassing but he chooses to avoid all that and feasts his eyes; doing what his heart desires. According to the poem, this is not the first encounter that Frost has had with the woods since he knows some vital information about the same such as, the owner of the forest, his whereabouts and what time he is usually around. His profound love has motivated all this research and findings for the woods.

Frost goes ahead and uses stylistic devices in his poem to emphasize certain aspects and perspectives. For instance, in the last paragraph the words, And miles to go before I sleep are repeated twice to emphasize on the journey that Frost has to cover to get to his place and still all that does not bother him in the least while he is admiring the woods. This poem is a classic piece of someone who loves nature and uses poetic expertise to express this love CITATION Rob78 \l 1033 (Frost and Jeffers).

The Five Stages of Grief

On the positive side, the poem is a well-written piece of art meant to motivate, encourage and act as a guiding light through the process of healing. In the event of heartbreak, it is okay to feel drained, hopeless, hurt and most so broken. It is usually a dark episode of most peoples lives, and they are clueless how to go about it. Some resort to using drugs in an attempt of numbing the pain which is a very wrong way to go about it. Linda Pastan poem provides a systematic way of dealing with heartbreak. She illustrates a profound understanding of the heartbreak process and makes her audience feel that they are not alone; that she has been there before and made it through, so can you, so can anyone. Her poem is not accurate and therefore has a large target audience. As a fact, everyone who is in love or out of it for some reason is a potential audience.

Unlike many heartbreak poems which are characterized by dull and sad mood, her poem is unique in that it encourages the sad person and gives them promises of a better day. The tone of the poem is not one of despair but rather a motivational one. It makes the reader come to terms with the present situation and endure the feeling. In her poem, Linda understands only too well that the surest and fastest way of healing is coming to terms with the reality and making peace with it. Without this, one will be stalling around and moving on would be almost impossible. Secondly, the choice of words used in the poem is simple enough to be understood by everyone without compromising on the message of the poem. The way she describes her personal experience of heartbreak is interesting, funny even. She incorporates humor in her heartbreak story as a way of adjusting the sad tone while at the same time driving her point home.

However, Lindas poem is not without flaws. Her poem is very predictable and lacks an important aspect of suspense. Suspense is significantly compromised on in this poem, and by reading the first paragraph, one can accurately guess how the poem ends. Her five stages of grief in the event of heartbreak is not anything new, and most relationships follow that curve. Secondly, in sharing her personal experience of heartbreak, she compromises on the various stylistic devices employed in poetry such as repetition, rhyme, and rhythm. Without these, the poem could easily be mistaken for a narrative or a short story.

In conclusion, Linda Pastans poem is a great piece of art that can be referenced in the event of heartbreak. She did it almost too well and was sure not to disappoint the reader. She illustrates mastery of skill when it comes to poetry CITATION Lin78 \l 1033 (Pastan).

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Related Poem Content Details

BY ROBERT FROST

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sounds the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

The Five Stage of Grief

BY LINDA PASTAN

The night I lost you

Someone pointed me towards

The Five Stages of Grief

Go that way, they said,

Its easy, like learning to climb

Stairs after the amputation.

And so I climbed.

Denial was first.

I sat down at breakfast

Carefully setting the table

For two. I passed you the toast---

You sat there. I passed

You the paper---you hid

Behind it.

Anger seemed so familiar.

I burned the toast, snatched

The paper and read the headlines myself.

But they mentioned your departure,

And so I moved on to

Bargaining. What could I exchange for you?

The silence

After storms? My typing fingers?

Before I could decide, Depression

Came puffing up, a poor relation

Its suitcase tied together

With string. In the suitcase

Were bandages for the eyes and bottles sleep. I slid all the way down the stairs

Feeling nothing.

And all the time Hope

Flashed on and off

In detective neon.

Hope was a signpost pointing

Straight in the air.

Hope was my uncle's middle name,

He died of it.

After a year I am still climbing, though my feet slip

On your stone face.

The tree line

Has long since disappeared;

Green is a color

I have forgotten.

But now I see what I am climbing

Towards: Acceptance

Written in capital letters,

A special headline:

Acceptance

Its name is in lights.

I struggle on,

Waving and shouting.

Below, my whole life spreads its surf,

All the landscapes I've ever known

Or dreamed of. Below

A fish jumps: the pulse

In your neck.

Acceptance. I finally

Reach it.

But something is wrong.

Grief is a circular staircase.

I have lost you.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Frost, Robert and Susan Jeffers. Stopping by woods on a snowy evening. New York: Dutton, 1978.

Pastan, Linda. The five stages of grief. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1978.