Symbolism in Robert Frost\'s Poetry

Symbolism in Robert Frost's Poetry

Symbolism makes good reading better. It forces readers to slow down and pay attention to what is being said and why. One poet known for his incredible use of figurative language is Robert Frost. Frost utilizes symbolism to encourage thought when writing about every day things. Frost also uses nature references in many of his poems to help him make a point or draw a connection between the human experience and the earth. We are surrounded by nature and Frost looks at nature in a way that provokes thought not only about life abut how we life. Poem that illustrate Frost's command of symbolism include "The Road Not Taken," "Birches," "Out, Out," "Fire and Ice," "Design," and "Nothing Gold Can Stay." Each of these poems seems to have a simple message but beneath that message, if we look at symbolism, we see Frost has a deeper meaning for us to contemplate. Life's choices, the passing of time, the fleeting nature of beauty, life and death are subjects Frost brings to light with symbolism. Frost's use of symbolism brings a deeper meaning to each poem, expanding our understanding of its message.

In one of Frost's more popular poems, "The Road Not Taken," we find rich symbolism represented in the road and the woods. The different roads symbolize the different paths we must take in life. They are, in fact, choices and standing there at the fork, the speaker must choose. The woods symbolize the external factors in our lives. Trees, leaves, bushes, and grass become individual aspects of the speaker's choice as he examines the roads. He looks "down one as far as I could / to where it bent in the undergrowth" (Frost the Road Not Taken 4-5), looking for some kind of clue or sign. The trees are of "yellow wood" (1) and "really about the same" (10) on each road. The speaker cannot find anything to help him make a definitive choice and, in many cases, this is how things are in our lives. Sometimes we must make a choice based on nothing more than how things appear to us at the moment or some other flimsy reason because that is all we can figure out. The speaker is demonstrating how making choices is not always easy. No one lays a map before us and tells us to go one way or another. We make those choices and sometimes we have no real guides other than our senses. Our choices are important, but so is the mindset with which we live them. Since there is no "do over" with life, we must accept the path we chose was the best for us. This eliminates regret and bitterness. The speaker believes his choice was the best one and made all the difference in his life and his last lines demonstrate this. The truth remains that he has no real way of knowing but his frame of mind makes "all the difference." This is the healthiest way to look at our choices. This poem illustrates the challenge of choices we face every day.

Another poem that uses the beauty of nature for symbolism is "Birches." Trees are the most obvious symbols in this poem, representing life itself. The poet describes how the trees are worn away by the affects of time. When he is looking at them, the branches "bend left and right" (Birches 1) and they are "loaded with ice" (6). They also they "click upon themselves" (7) and "turn many-colored / as the stir cracks and crazes their enamel" (6-7). They are so weighted from the ice; their shape is no longer what it was. The sun and wind are also components that change the appearance of the trees. With this scene, we see how time and the elements of weather have transformed these trees. The trees are like people in that their surroundings shape them into their present stage of life. The weight of the ice bears down on the branches and the wind wears away the youth of the trees. The sun beats down on the trees, changing their color and form. Like life, the trees cannot control all of what is happening to them and the best the can do in some circumstances is stand firm and hope to survive. The trees are also important symbols because they represent harmony between nature and man. The branches reach up to the sky and touch it and their roots are buried in the earth. In a sense, they are connecting the otherworldly with the worldly because it is as if they live in two different realms. The sight reminds the poet of his youth and here the poem explores what exists in our mind and what lives on earth. Louis Untermeyer agrees, claims "fact and fancy play together" (Untermeyer 88) in this poem. The country boy conquering "becomes the mature poet who announces: 'Earth's the right place for love / I don't know where it's likely to get better'" (88), he writes and the "wisdom and whimsy join to make a poem that delights the mind and endears itself to the heart" and it is popular because it combines "picture and human appeal" (88). The connection between these two realms helps us understand the speaker's experience.

Most of Frost's poems deal with the earthly realm and the human life living in it. Life is filled with beauty and tragedy and "Out, Out -- " is another poem that demonstrates Frost's skill as a poet. This poem uses objects we use in daily life as symbols. The saw is perhaps the most compelling symbol, as it represents the importance and weight of life's responsibilities. The saw keeps the boy from being a boy and ruins his life as well. The mountains symbolize his youth in the distance, which he can never visit again. The distracted boy symbolizes all youth in its hurry to grow up. He is "Doing a man's work, though a child's heart -- " (Frost Out, Out 24). The snarling and rattling saw serves to be every decision we make in life. The boy's life also represents the fragile nature of every single life. We never know how things will turn out. Most of the time, things turn out how we suspect but it is the unintended consequences in life that shake us up and form our personalities. How we handle the distractions in life greatly affect the rest of our lives. This poem looks at a tragedy and, while we do not like thinking of our mistakes, we all make them. This poem illustrates how innocent choices can be disastrous.

Disaster comes to us in a variety of ways. Sometimes it hit us from an outside force and sometimes it comes from within. Interestingly, some of the most dangerous disasters are born from within the human soul. One poem that demonstrates this point is "Fire and Ice." In this poem, the poet uses the symbols of fire and ice to make statements about mankind. The poet is considering the end of the world and the common beliefs about how that will occur. Two possible ways in which the world could be destroyed are through fire and ice. These images become symbols as the poet relates them to human emotion. Fire symbolizes desire; it is hot and it has the capability of destroying the earth. Ice symbolizes hate; it is cold and it also has the ability to destroy the earth. Desire and hate are two strong emotions that can possess an individual easily. Without realizing it, we can become slaves to these emotions and they can kill us just like fire could spread across the surface of the earth quickly. Similarly, an ice age could slowly choke all life from the plant one breath at a time. Every human being has experienced these emotions and only self-control saves us. Hate and desire are destructive forces just as fire and ice. The speaker of the poem indicates he would prefer ice to fire, writing, "From what I've tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire" (Frost 3-4). However, he also writes, "But if it had to perish twice . . ." (Fire and Ice 5), indicating freezing to death would not be a bad idea because he "knows enough of hate / to say that for destruction ice/Is also great" (6-8). The comparison of the two emotions is important because the speaker draws upon their ability to destroy. Selfishness and being cold-hearted eat at the human souls in the same ways fire and ice eat away the earth. Tom Hansen writes, "outer blatantly symbolizes inner. Fire is directly equated with desire, the kind that kindles antagonism and conflict. Ice is equated with hate. Fire and ice are born in the dark reaches of inner space, in the smoldering, ice-sheathed human heart" (Hansen). Comparing these very opposite experiences and emotions allows the poet to bring attention to the power of our emotions. The symbols seem extreme at first but as we become comfortable with the idea, the symbols make perfect sense.

While some symbols in Frost's poetry are extreme, others are more subtle. In "Design," the poet uses the smallest of objects to serve as symbols. In addition, he uses them in an unusual manner to make an impact upon the reader. He tells us the spider is white, dimpled, and fat, similar to a chubby baby. The moth is akin to a paper kite. These images a re happy ones that we do not normally associated with death. The moth is rigid, even though it is like silk and the reference makes readers think of the silk lining we find in coffins. The speaker then begins to speak about the "characters of death and blight / Mixed" (Design 4-5) as the "the ingredients of a witches' broth" (7). These symbols of death create tension in the poem as the speaker ponders the big issues in life. This tiny scene represents the whole of life in that it contains aspects of nature. This prompts the speaker to consider a Godless universe, asking, "What but design of darkness to appall?-- / if design govern in a thing so small" (13-4). Here we see how Frost can see so much unfolding within a single event. His observation leads him to an important question about the universe itself and the poem passes that question along to readers, so they may consider the magnificence of the universe as the poet does.

The beauty and magnitude of the universe does not need to be shouted from mountaintops to be recognized. To the contrary in Frost's world, as we see in "Stopping by Woods," where the world is quiet but filled with beauty. Again, the poet provides symbols in nature. The poet stops to enjoy the view as the woods "fill up with snow" (Stopping 4) on the "darkest evening of the year" (5). The peacefulness of that moment is reflected with a scene so quiet he hears the "wind and downy flake" (11) falling around him. The entire scene symbolizes peace and tranquility in contrast to the real world, to which he is headed. The promises he must keep are symbols of the things that tear us away from the simplicity of life and the beauty of nature. The "miles to go before I sleep" (15) also represent the distractions of the world. Life is not always easy and sometimes it calls us away from the things we would rather be doing. This poem points out the business of life eloquently. It also urges us to enjoy those stolen moments while we can because nothing lat forever.