Message of the Poem. This Narrative Poem

¶ … message of the poem. This narrative poem follows one, dynamic event - the death of a boy using a saw to cut wood. The poem does not have rhyming lines; it is simply a block of text that narrates one single and very important event. It begins very quietly, and seems to be one of Frost's poems that celebrate nature and American life, but the end is far more disturbing and tragic. Frost may have written the poem to show how life is fleeting, and everything can change in a split second.

The content of this poem is quintessential Robert Frost. It opens with fine imagery of the New England natural world that immediately gives the setting and tone of the poem. It reads somewhat like a Normal Rockwell painting, with a perfect setting, close-knit family, and chores consuming their daily lives. The unsuspecting reader expects a perfect family farm ending, complete with a steaming dinner on the table and a family enjoying each other's company. As one critic notes, "The language of the poem is terse, and the scene is one of rustic beauty" (Kelly 12). Frost uses this imagery and tone to create a sense of well-being, and then snatches it away, just as the boy's life is snatched away in a second. Everything Frost does in the poem leads to his theme, that life is fleeting and tragedy can strike in a second.

The diction of this poem is quite formal, and Frost uses symbolism in this poem, too, especially when he describes the buzz-saw "snarling and rattling." His comparison to a snarling beast becomes more vivid with this choice of words, and makes the saw seem more menacing and evil. By making the saw the "villain" of the poem, Frost continues his theme of fleeting life and tragedy. The saw is the cause of the tragedy, and is a symbol of death and destruction in the poem.

The poem also uses irony in the ending. It is ironic that those tending to the boy turn away, since they are not the ones who have died. Frost opens the poem with the warmth of the natural world, and closes it with the cold-hearted people who turn away from death. The boy's death is tragic, but the ending makes it even more tragic, because no one seems to care that he has died. Thus, the theme of the happy, content family that runs through the poem is really a ruse, and the boy's death does not bring them together, it means little to them. It is, as the poem says, "No more to build on there" (Frost). Frost also seems to say that the accident could have been avoided if the boy was not doing a job he was too young for, and if he had stopped the task even a few minutes sooner.