Robert Frost's use of nature as metaphor in "Birches"

Nature

Poetry is how some authors express their feelings about a subject or attitude that is occurring around them. The poems by Robert Frost that have been studied all discuss how man and nature are separate from one another. He uses nature as a metaphor to explain a situation with man. "Frost uses nature as metaphor. He observes something in nature and says this is like that. He leads you to make a connection, but never forces it on the reader. Read on a literal level, Frost's poems always make perfect sense. His facts are correct, especially in botanical and biological terms. But he is not trying to tell nature stories nor animal stories. He is always using these metaphorically implying an analogy to some human concern" (Frost and Nature). Along with that, Frost also saw nature being able to destroy man but at the same time, he saw man's struggle with nature. Therefore, Frost's poetry gives a different outlook about nature by using it as a metaphor for his poems

Birches.

Frost believes that people should express what they feel through poetry like he used nature as metaphor. For example, in the poem, "Birches," he uses ice storms to explain how people have to face the truth before everything falls apart without being able to fix it. It clearly shows that the poet is a poet that thinks with emotions. This is due to the fact that people must face their obstacles and overcome them before they become unfixable as it is seen from the following "Birches" stanza

Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells

Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

This poetry helps people to understand that they must face their problem before they are uncontrollable. Sometimes when facing problems, a person needs support to overcome them without feeling overwhelmed. If people have socially supportive arrangements as the attributes of socially legitimate roles which provide for the meeting dependency needs without loss of esteem, they are less likely to show aggression while suppressing destructive behavior. Social support can also serve as a salve to pains encountered along the way. It gives people the confidence to making a positive change and testing their limits when they know they have a community of support they can call upon. Social support refers to social interactions that are perceived by the recipient to facilitate coping and assist in responding to stress. Social support is thought to reduce the total amount of stress a person experience as well as to help one cope better when stressed (Landau, J., Garrett, J., & Webb, R p. 498-2008). From there, socially supportive environments were presented as pattern interpersonal relationships mediated through shared values and sentiments as well as facilitate the performance of social roles through which needs are met. In summation, social support has been defined as an intervening factor tied directly to the coping process (Landau, J., Garrett, J., & Webb, R p. 498-2008). Therefore, since people can relate to Frost's poetry due to his nature metaphor and imagery, it is obvious he uses his emotions through out his poem to make valid points about life.

Conclusion

From this evidence, it is apparent the poetry should be expressed because of the imagery and metaphors that are used to describe what man goes in life rather it is a struggle with life itself or nature, which helps people to relate since they have experienced the effects of certain situations. While the poet expresses his feelings in the poem, the reader sees support of their own feelings. Support, as a construct, has been defined as a sense of belonging, specifically among peers, teammates, community or family members. People who strong social support/low isolation exhibit higher levels of resilience and lower levels of aggression. People are also less likely to be suicidal if they perceive their family, friends, and peers to be more accepting in the classroom, and if they have more positive friendships, which can be reflected in a school setting. Those who feel supported by counselors, parents, or peers and have things that they can relate to literature exhibit healthier coping mechanisms and maintain a more positive outlook about their future. "Frost simply does not look at nature through the same eyes. Though critics have pointed out his eminently reasonable view of nature, his farmer's sagacity and unwillingness to go beyond brute facts, they have failed to see the essential difference between his nature poetry and that to which the nineteenth century has conditioned us" (The Pastoral Art of Robert Frost). From there, the poem suggests that the author expresses their feelings through poetry and uses nature as a metaphor, which helps others to express themselves.

Frost and Nature. 2010. 5 April 2010. http://www.frostfriends.org/tutorial-4.html

Frost, Robert. 2004. Birches. 5 April 2010. http://www.love-poems.me.uk/frost_birches.htm

Lynen, John. 2010. The Pastoral Art of Robert Frost. 5 April 2010. http://www.frostfriends.org/FFL/Nature%20and%20Pastoralism%20-%20Lynen/lynenessay1.html

Landau, J., Garrett, J., & Webb, R.. (2008). ASSISTING A CONCERNED PERSON TO MOTIVATE SOMEONE EXPERIENCING CYBERSEX INTO TREATMENT: APPLICATION OF INVITATIONAL INTERVENTION: THE ARISE MODEL TO CYBERSEX. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 34(4), 498-511. 5 April 2010. ProQuest Psychology Journals. (Document ID: 1589445491).