reluctance by robert frost essay

Robert Frost: Poems

By robert frost, robert frost: poems summary and analysis of "reluctance" (1913).

The narrator has traveled throughout the world, across mountains and rivers, and now finds himself on the path back home. His journey has ended, and he is shocked to find the signs of the dead season all around him: crusted snow, dead leaves, withering flowers. He had not expected such a sight when he returned home, and despairingly considers leaving again. However, he refuses to accept the end of the season without fighting for it and ends the poem on a courageous, hopeful note.

This poem is divided into four stanzas of six lines each. The rhyme scheme for each stanza is ABCBDB.

This work is the final poem in Frost’s 1913 book “A Boy’s Will” and serves as a cap on the theme of exile and return that is introduced in the first poem of the book, “Into My Own.” In this first poem, the narrator expresses his determination to turn his back on his own and travel the world in a quest for self-discovery. The narrator declares, “I do not see why I should e’er turn back, / Or those should not set forth upon my track / To overtake me…”

In “Reluctance,” the narrator’s travels have finally led him back home, but he is dismayed to find nothing left for him but the dead leaves of the winter season. Still, he is unwilling to accept such an ending to his adventures and refuses to “yield” or “go with the drift of things” simply because the season proclaims it to be so. His travels may be finished and the season may be ending, but that does not mean that he has to accept the turn of events without anger or emotion.

This poem also has an additional meaning that stems directly from an autobiographical event in Frost’s life. He wrote this poem while he was living with his mother and sister in Lawrence, Massachusetts, before he had convinced his future wife, Elinor, to marry him. After he was firmly rejected by her during a visit to her school in New York, Frost contemplated committing suicide and becoming a part of the “last lone aster” and “dead leaves.” However, Frost eventually found courage and decided not to go “with the drift of things” and accept Elinor’s rejection. Such an admittance of failure would have been “treason” to his heart and his love.

Robert Frost: Poems Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Robert Frost: Poems is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Discuss the theme of the poem "The Road Not Taken" written by Robert Frost.

The central theme of "The Road Not Taken" revolves around the significance of human choice. Through its tone, language, and structure, the poem is able to offer multiple understandings of what it means to choose. The first interpretation of choice...

What phrase conveys a similar idea to “I lose some” in line 2

I had to drop the armful in the road

How does the poem’s form relate to its meaning? Cite evidence from the poem in your response.

In terms of form, “Mending Wall” is not structured with stanzas; it is a simple forty-five lines of first-person narrative. Frost does maintain iambic stresses, but he is flexible with the form in order to maintain the conversational feel of the...

Study Guide for Robert Frost: Poems

Robert Frost: Poems study guide contains a biography of poet Robert Frost, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis of his major poems.

• About Robert Frost: Poems
• Robert Frost: Poems Summary
• "Mending Wall" Video
• Character List

Essays for Robert Frost: Poems

Robert Frost: Poems essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Robert Frost's poems.

• Nature Imagery in the Works of Robert Frost
• Robert Frost in England - A Short Biography
• An Explication of Mending Wall By Robert Frost
• The Most of It
• "Eternal Freshness of the Flawless Poem:" Why Frost's Poetry Remains Vital

Lesson Plan for Robert Frost: Poems

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Robert Frost: Poems
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Robert Frost: Poems Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Robert Frost: Poems

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Reluctance: Poem by Robert Frost - Summary & Analysis

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By Robert Frost

  Out through the fields and the woods And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home, And lo, it is ended. The leaves are all dead on the ground, Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one And let them go scraping and creeping Out over the crusted snow , When others are sleeping. And the dead leaves lie huddled and still, No longer blown hither and thither; The last lone aster is gone; The flowers of the witch hazel wither; The heart is still aching to seek, But the feet question ‘Whither?’ Ah, when to the heart of man Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end Of a love or a season?

Summary of Reluctance

• Popularity of “Reluctance”: Reluctance was written by Robert Frost, a great American poet laureate, author, and critic. This poem is interesting and superb composition. It was first published in 1912 and was later included in A Boy’s Will . The poem centers on a person who is back home after accomplishing great adventures . To his surprise, the signs of the dead season have altered the stunning view of his hometown. The poem won accolades for the writer due to the universal thematic strand.
• “Reluctance” As a Representative of Sorrow: This poem is an expression of sorrow. The writer experiences various emotions of a traveler who has traveled throughout the world and now finds himself on the way back home. He marks the end of his journey after visiting exciting and beautiful places across the world. His excitement turns into sadness when he finds the signs of winter on his doorstep. The dead leaves, crusted snow, and lifeless flowers make him gloomy and sad. The dull and lifeless plain brings him heartache and sudden shock as he has never expected to encounter a welcome home like this. Despite knowing the cyclical natural world, he refuses to sit back and wait for the joyous season. Instead, he desires to keep exploring the beautiful world.
• Major Themes in “Reluctance”: The conflict between head and heart, the transient nature of weather, and human emotions are the poem’s central themes. The poem recollects the various emotions of a traveler who has greeted himself with the treasures of ecstasy. His eyes have witnessed glories and bounties of nature. Yet, when he finds a path back home, his heart gets filled with sadness. The unexpected lifeless winter mocks the way he traces his way back. As an adventurer, he ignores the sorrow this season brings to the earth and decides to go with the drift of things.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Reluctance

literary devices are tools that allow the writers to hook the readers to go through their poetic compositions and understand their hidden messages. Robert Frost used various literary devices in the poem. The analysis is as follows.

• Assonance : Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /i/ in “The flowers of the witch hazel wither” and the sound of /e/ in “Was it ever less than a treason”.
• Alliteration : Alliteration means the use of consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words, For example, the sound of /l/ in “The last lone aster is gone” and the sound of /th/ in “those that the oak.”
• Consonance : Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /th/ in “No longer blown hither and thither” and the sound of /k/ in “The heart is still aching to seek.”
• Enjambment : It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break ; instead, it rolls over to the next line. For example,

“I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home, And lo, it is ended.”

• Imagery : Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “I have climbed the hills of view”, “And the dead leaves lie huddled and still” and “And let them go scraping and creeping.”
• Personification : Personification is to give human qualities to inanimate objects . The poet used this device in the second stanza of the poem. For example,

“The leaves are all dead on the ground, Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one And let them go scraping and creeping.”

• Rhetorical Question : A rhetorical question is not asked to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. Robert Frost posed rhetorical questions at the end of the poem to put emphasize his point. For example, “And bow and accept the end/Of a love or a season?”
• Symbolism : Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. “Fields and the woods” stand for happy season whereas, and “dead leaves” symbolize the arrival of winter.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Reluctance

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

• End Rhyme : End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Robert Frost has used end rhyme in this poem such as; “reason/season”, “wended / descended” and “sleeping/creeping.”
• Rhyme Scheme : The poem follows the ABCBDB rhyme scheme , and this pattern continues till the end.
• Sestet : A sestet is a six lined stanza. Here, each stanza is sestet.
• Stanza : A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem, with each comprising six lines.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines from The Reluctance are useful to add when talking about the conservation of nature.

“Out through the fields and the woods And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home, And lo, it is ended.”

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• Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home, And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground, Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one And let them go scraping and creeping Out over the crusted snow, When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still, No longer blown hither and thither; The last long aster is gone; The flowers of the witch-hazel wither; The heart is still aching to seek, But the feet question ‘Whither?’

Ah, when to the heart of man Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end Of a love or a season?

Analysis, meaning and summary of Robert Frost's poem Reluctance

10 comments.

While facing some problems/sufferings/pains , as a human , we had not to take anything to heart and think abt it always . If we hav some bad /ill days in our life, we have definitely something good in future. Indeed instead of thinking about our past, live ur life at present .

Robert Frost’s poems are good.

Life is not permenant. So while living , let’s accept the iOS and downs in life. The poem focusses and delivers a strong message that everyone should have the sense of appreciation and sense of love . In addition to this, no one should give up hope and confident until the last breathe of life / the last drop of the bottom of the bottle. Tank u

i loved the poem

Reluctance of the homebound speaker to end a journey finds reinforcement in that of the noble oak to relinquish leaves. A solitary heart in each denies its losses of love and seasons, suggesting the two are so similar, but triteness says so in only lesser poetry than this. The spirit is willing, or the heart is, to resist both the drift of things and yielding to reason, but the feet betray the weakness of flesh, and demand “Whither?”

The wonderous heart had seen and felt a lot while try to find the meaning in the void that was left after the disappearance of love. The world chosen by the author lead the reader to think that something is wrong and everything hurts .It is love…seen at its sunset descends and ”is ended”: ”And looked at the world, and descended;/i have come by the highway home /And Io it is ended”. The choice of the season is not left to chance ,seems the imagery comes to reinfoce the thoughts of the author through very vivid images :”The leaves are all dead on the ground”,”over the crusted snow”,”scraping and creeping”,”and the dead leaves lie huddled and still,/no longer blown hither and thither”. The snow ,even though is suggesting purity and maybe a new beginning, is crusted which means that everything is frozen starting with nature and ending with the flame of love :”the last aster is gone/ the flowers of the witch-hazel wither”. The pain suffered due to this twilight(”the heart is still aching to seek”)is emphasize by the fact that there seems to be no purpose left ,no tomorrow,no shores to be looking for(”but the feet question’Whither’ ”). It seems that with this loss there comes lack of purpose and desire to fiind a meaningful answer to all this. The poem ends with a rethorical question which comprises a general truth not yet found .It is a question addressed to the Gods or maybe to the human nature which is so mysterious and difficult to comprehend . This last question can be a cry for an answer that will never come , but will hunt the mind of the man/person who finds it difficult to yield in front of reality because the heart of that person will see this acceptance of defeat as a treason even though she cannot change irreversible facts. The message is a simple one which states that no matter the time or the place this state of facts will always be the same ,because man can never bow in front of the evidence and accept that which faith or the Gods has chosen for him. He will always question them and look for an answer and fight against all odds to succeed in preserving this feeling of love that makes him happy. So season may come and go and so may love but the heart of man will always consider it a treason”to bow and accept the end of a love or a season”. It is human hubris that will make man fight and never accept the evidence of facts that everything is mortal and passing in this world and that you can never preserve ,that which is ephemeral but in the same time so beautiful(last stanza*)… The whole poem is an environmental metaphor since the loss of love is compared with the end of autumn and the choice of epiteths helps the author creat a vivd imagery of loss ,lament and grief. Yet the end leaves place for hope because it is the question nature of man that keeps him going.

Read this poem, and the last stanza, when you’re feeling desperate and drawn to give away your ideals or when you feel like you’re losing your love – it doesn’t make things better, but it makes you feel proud of at least not “going with the drift of things”.

Im still amazed at how effectively Robert Frost is able to use environmental metaphors. This poem is very good.

My father used the last stanza of this poem on a notice he sent out when our Golden Retriever, Mick, died of cancer. When I read this I can’t help but think of man’s reluctance to give up a moment in nature.

Maybe the same is true for dogs.

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Other works by Robert Frost...

YOU were forever finding some new… So when I saw you down on hands a… In the meadow, busy with the new-c… Trying, I thought, to set it up o… I went to show you how to make it…

There is a singer everyone has hea… Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood… Who makes the solid tree trunks so… He says that leaves are old and th… Mid-summer is to spring as one to…

To drive Paul out of any lumber c… All that was needed was to say to… ‘How is the wife, Paul?’- and he’… Some said it was because be bad no… And hated to be twitted on the sub…

I slumbered with your poems on my… Spread open as I dropped them hal… Like dove wings on a figure on a t… To see, if in a dream they brought… I might not have the chance I mis…

Here come the line-gang pioneering… They throw a forest down less cut… They plant dead trees for living,… They string together with a living… They string an instrument against…

My long two-pointed ladder’s stick… Toward heaven still, And there’s a barrel that I didn’… Beside it, and there may be two or… Apples I didn’t pick upon some bo…

My long two-pointed ladder’s stick… Toward heaven still. And there’s a barrel that I didn’… Beside it, and there may be two or… Apples I didn’t pick upon some bo…

(Microscopic) A speck that would have been benea… On any but a paper sheet so white Set off across what I had written… And I had idly poised my pen in a…

When I was young my teachers were… I gave up fire for form till I wa… I suffered like a metal being cast… I went to school to age to learn t… Now when I am old my teachers are…

An ant on the tablecloth Ran into a dormant moth Of many times his size. He showed not the least surprise. His business wasn’t with such.

I went to turn the grass once afte… Who mowed it in the dew before the… The dew was gone that made his bla… Before I came to view the levelle… I looked for him behind an isle of…

To Ridgely Torrence On Last Looking into His 'Hesper… I often see flowers from a passing… That are gone before I can tell w… I want to get out of the train and…

At the end of the row I stepped on the toe Of an unemployed hoe. It rose in offense And struck me a blow

YOU come to fetch me from my work… When supper’s on the table, and we… If I can leave off burying the wh… Soft petals fallen from the apple… (Soft petals, yes, but not so barr…

She had no saying dark enough For the dark pine that kept Forever trying the window latch Of the room where they slept. The tireless but ineffectual hands

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Reluctance by Robert Frost

"Reluctance" is a poem written by Robert Frost. The first three stanzas of the poem give the impression that this is a simple poem about nature. However, upon further reading the reader finds that the poem is, in fact, about lost love. The snow is symbolic of the man's pain and suffering. The leaves are symbolic of hope. This is one of the many poems of Frost's that use nature in this way.

This poem is written in four stanzas with six lines in each. It is rhymed as ABCBDB.

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An Analysis Of 'Reluctance' By Robert Frost

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2. This poem is very concerned with the temperature. First it’s really cold. Then, the fires are lit and it’s warm. The temperature outside and inside the house reflects on the speaker’s relationship with his father. The temperature is a symbol of the speaker’s inner feelings and relationships. The weather is cold and the young speaker’s relationship with his father is

Robert Frost Research Paper

In this poem an unnamed narrator is traveling with his horse through the woods during snowfall. The narrator is mystified by the beauty of the dark snowy woods and would like to ask in its beauty but cannot. “My little horse must think it queer/ To stop without a farmhouse near” (5-6). The narrator is simply taking in the view and ambiance while the horse finds this peculiar. This is not normal to the horse; there is nothing around that it is familiar and he questions his rider’s choice. Although the rider would like to stay in the forest he understands that this is not what he is supposed to do. “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, / But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep (13 – 15). The narrator enjoys being alone and this is apparent by his description of the woods. Most people would not describe the woods as dark and lovely but instead would describe it solitude and gloomy. Frost uses the words ‘But I have promises to keep’ the audience does not learn what the promise is one can make an assumption. Like mentioned before, one can say that the narrator is regretting the choice not stay in the woods but may have a family to care for. They may already be living in the American dream yet may not find it satisfying but have to uphold

Robert Frost's Stay against Confusion

Robert Frost is an iconic poet in American literature today, and is seen as one of the most well known, popular, or respected twentieth century American poets. In his lifetime, Frost received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, and the Congressional Gold Medal. However, Robert Frost’s life was not always full of fame and wealth; he had a very difficult life from the very beginning. At age 11, his father died of tuberculosis; fifteen years later, his mother died of cancer. Frost committed his younger sister to a mental hospital, and many years later, committed his own daughter to a mental hospital as well. Both Robert and his wife Elinor suffered from depression throughout their lives, but considering the premature deaths of three of their children and the suicide of another, both maintained sanity very well. (1)

Essay about Use of Poetic Devices in Two Love Poems

• 2 Works Cited

Furthermore, a second poetic device used in both of these poems was personification. In “Reluctance,” Frost personified the parts of his body to explain how torn he was about losing his love: “…The heart is still aching to seek/ But the feet question ‘Whither?’…” (Frost, 17-18). The personification in this stanza made the persona’s uncertainty and pain apparent and contributed to the establishment of the mood. If the persona himself had bluntly said that he wanted to look for his loved one but didn’t know where to look, the impact would not have been nearly as dramatic. Millay also used personification in her poem, “Time Does Not Bring Relief”. Personification was used to communicate the role time played in her life during her loss: “Time does not bring relief; you all have lied/ Who told me time would ease me of my pain…” (Millay, 1-2). The lack of involvement time had in the speaker’s life during her loss made it apparent how deeply grief-stricken she was. Nevertheless, if this poetic device had not been used to convey the theme, it would have turned out less impressive, if not awkward. Millay used an additional personification in her poem which was used to personify the rain: “…I miss him in the weeping of the rain…” (Millay, 3). The

• Robert Frost

Poetry is a literary medium which often resonates with the responder on a personal level, through the subject matter of the poem, and the techniques used to portray this. Robert Frost utilises many techniques to convey his respect for nature, which consequently makes much of his poetry relevant to the everyday person. The poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and “The mending wall” strongly illuminate Frost’s reverence to nature and deal with such matter that allows Frost to speak to ordinary people.

Personification In Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Robert Frost’s poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” was written in 1922 then later published in 1923. In the poem, the speaker expresses his feelings and thoughts of the woods during the darkest night of the year. The speaker and his horse makes a random stop in a certain area of the woods. The speaker seemed very interested in the scenery of that part of the woods. Although the speaker wants to stay, he has to keep his promise and continue on. Frost uses personification, imagery, and alliteration to express the feelings and moods from the snowy night in the woods.

The Poetry of Robert Lee Frost

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words,” Robert Frost once said. As is made fairly obvious by this quote, Frost was an adroit thinker. It seems like he spent much of his life thinking about the little things. He often pondered the meaning and symbolism of things he found in nature. Many readers find Robert Frost’s poems to be straightforward, yet his work contains deeper layers of complexity beneath the surface. These deeper layers of complexity can be clearly seen in his poems “ The Road Not Taken”, “Fire and Ice”, and “Birches”.

Imagery In The Poem Come In By Robert Frost

Poems are one of the oldest forms of literary expression often times including complex themes. The poem “Come in” by Robert Frost is no exception. The poem provides us with his experience going into the woods, which represent death. The theme of the poem is a description of Frost’s encounter with his personal feelings and emotions, in which he uses “the woods” as a symbol to express what he is feeling. In the poem “Come In”, Robert Frost’s symbolism via birds, and light, imagery of the woods, constant use of metaphors and similes, line breaks, rhyme, and overall sad tone, illustrates the darkness of his thoughts, feelings, and general experiences in his desire to

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Robert Frost 1874 (San Francisco) – 1963 (Boston)

Out through the fields and the woods And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home, And lo, it is ended.  The leaves are all dead on the group, Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one And let them go scraping and creeping Out over the crusted snow, When others are sleeping.  And the dead leaves lie huddled and still, No longer blown hither and thither; The last long aster is gone; The flowers of the witch-hazel wither; The heart is still aching to seek, But the feel question 'Whither?'  Ah, when to the heart of man Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things, To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end Of a love or a season?

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 19, 2023

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Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.  more…

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Out through the fields and the woods    And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view    And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home,    And lo, it is ended. The leaves are all dead on the ground,    Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one    And let them go scraping and creeping Out over the crusted snow,    When others are sleeping. And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,    No longer blown hither and thither; The last lone aster is gone;    The flowers of the witch hazel wither; The heart is still aching to seek,    But the feet question ‘Whither?’ Ah, when to the heart of man    Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things,    To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end    Of a love or a season?

This poem is in the public domain.

More by this poet

A line-storm song.

The line-storm clouds fly tattered and swift,    The road is forlorn all day,  Where a myriad snowy quartz stones lift,    And the hoof-prints vanish away.  The roadside flowers, too wet for the bee,   Expend their bloom in vain.  Come over the hills and far with me,    And be my love in the rain. 

Not to Keep

They sent him back to her. The letter came Saying... and she could have him. And before She could be sure there was no hidden ill Under the formal writing, he was in her sight— Living.— They gave him back to her alive— How else? They are not known to send the dead— And not disfigured visibly. His face?—

A Time to Talk

When a friend calls to me from the road And slows his horse to a meaning walk, I don’t stand still and look around On all the hills I haven’t hoed, And shout from where I am, What is it? No, not as there is a time to talk. I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground, Blade-end up and five feet tall,

Approach of Winter

The half-stripped trees struck by a wind together, bending all, the leaves flutter drily and refuse to let go or driven like hail stream bitterly out to one side and fall where the salvias, hard carmine,— like no leaf that ever was—

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Reluctance By Robert Frost Analysis

Show More In a shallow path full of sorrow and sadness, suddenly shows up a light saying it’s time to let go. A poem of “Reluctance” by Robert Frost, stated about him walking through a field, expressing the feeling he views on the site. As him walks pass by the field, he thought of every phase that can describe his inner feeling. One after another thought , he still doesn’t know what to do or expect on how he will live. Frost consider that taking a walk will make him feel better and someday his loved will come back to him. The literal meaning Frost goes on a trip, but the symbolic meaning is how he needs to learn how to accept the truth and move on. Going through a tough situation that cannot be forgotten by anyone. Frost decided to take a journey …show more content… The sorrow of memories is like “The leaves are all dead on the ground” (Frost), pushing and crushing him to the floor with no doubt. Along with only a little happiness, but hurtful memories toward him. When the night goes on, he passes by a pile of leaf, rusting and crusting as the wind blew it down. Thinking of the way how his lover has left him. He feels like one day has passed by when it strikes every hour. Even though, all he have left inside of him is sadness and regrets one by one. Frost feel like he have no goal or pursuing his life on when he lost the one he love. Imaging to himself as how that person who took his lover is making her lively instead of …show more content… Just like how Frost wasn’t expecting how much pain he could have gone through in a short period of time. As he wielding his way to the fields, walls, hills, and the freeway to know where he should go and leave his pain behind. Without any doubt, he didn’t think twice about his life, but only concentrating how much pain he have for losing his love. In any way, Frost sounds like he wants to end his life, but at the same time, he don’t know how will he do it. Going back and forth, he returns to where he first started just like how he lost his love. Unforgettable memories during his journey path, all he can do is learn how to accept the truth and move on. Somewhere in his life, he could meet someone better than

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Reluctance by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods    And over the walls I have wended; I have climbed the hills of view    And looked at the world, and descended; I have come by the highway home,    And lo, it is ended.   The leaves are all dead on the ground,    Save those that the oak is keeping To ravel them one by one    And let them go scraping and creeping Out over the crusted snow,    When others are sleeping.   And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,    No longer blown hither and thither; The last lone aster is gone;    The flowers of the witch hazel wither; The heart is still aching to seek,    But the feet question ‘Whither?’   Ah, when to the heart of man    Was it ever less than a treason To go with the drift of things,    To yield with a grace to reason, And bow and accept the end    Of a love or a season?

More from Robert Frost :

• The Silken Tent
• The Vantage Point
• To the Thawing Wind
• Meeting and Passing
• Nothing Gold Can Stay
• The Line-Gang

Frost's 'Reluctance' By Robert Frost

Figurative choices in robert frost's the road not taken.

Robert Frost is an iconic poet. One of his most well-known poem is titled “The Road Not Taken”. This poem is about the narrator monologue about his travels and choices he faced. It opens up with the view with a fork in the road where two roads take different routes. The narrator must choose which road he will take. The narrator describes his setting vividly of the woods that he is traveling in and the choices he must make, such as “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.” (14-15). The roads are not only literal choices, but also figurative choices. As they represent all life choices one must make in their lifetime. Frost uses multiple elements within his poem to bring the meaning of it to the reader’s attention. This poem is a metaphor for the choices people must make in their lives and how those choices impact their lives forever.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

In his poem "The Road Not Taken" Frost's theme is about how the choices one makes affect life. When we come to a fork in the road, a decision needs to be made. Both paths are different and choosing the right one – if there is a right one – will depend on where we have been. Each choice that we make plays out differently in our lives. We can look back and wonder what would have happened if we choose differently. But that is outweighed in what we would have missed. Each choice affects who we are, where we are going, and moreover our lives.

Literary Analysis Of The Road Not Taken

The poem entitled “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is perhaps one of the most well-known poems to date. Frost’s poem explores the different paths and choices individuals are presented with throughout their life, which can later influence their lives significantly more than originally anticipated. Specifically, Frost describes a fork in the road at which the narrator must choose between two very different paths with varying outcomes. “The Road Not Taken” emphasizes the importance of taking the less traveled road through Frost’s usage of a wide range of literary devices. “The Road Not Taken” suggests that individuals should fully experience the process of making a choice before reaching a decision as that one single choice may later have

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost is a poem about decisions and how they can impact someone’s life. However, many other literary devices are used in the poem in order to make the theme more obvious to its readers. This poem is often confused as focusing on how the narrator takes the road less traveled, when it is actually meant to focus on the choice that the narrator denies, or the road not taken. Frost mentions the doubt and worry that comes along with decision-making, but how perseverance can make it worthwhile. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost introduces a theme of making life decisions, while using symbolism and tone as tools to show his readers that the right choice is not always the easy one.

The Life of Robert Frost

Although written in the twentieth century, much of Robert Frost’s poetry is still relevant today. Frost is considered to be one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century. His poetry was largely based on, although not limited to, man’s ever present battle with understanding his relationship with nature. Frost constantly illustrates the difficulties man face, and how they struggle to develop individual identities in the world that they live in. Frosts style and structure are said to take a more 19th century traditional stance however similarities are prominent with his work and the works of his twentieth century contemporaries. “A brook in the city” is a poem that demonstrates Frosts concerns of ever changing human life and man’s attitude towards nature and preservation, this essay will discuss if this poem, in connection with many others, exemplifies Frosts poetic style and views on poetry as a whole.

The Story of Robert Frost

To begin with, a poem that represents Frost’s childhood is “A Peck of Gold.” Robert Frost once said, “But I was one of the children told / some of the dust was really gold” (Frost 7-8). This poem talks about Frost’s walks with his mother around the city. He lived in San Francisco and would notice the Golden Gate Bridge and the lasting impacts of the Gold Rush on the town as he walked. As Frost noticed these things, he would come to the conclusion that some of the things he saw must really be made of gold. This poem is able to show how mystified Frost was by the city in which he lived. It also shows just how close he and his mother were. Just as “A Peck of Gold” represented his childhood, the poem “Birches” does as well.

Life and Death in Poetry

Life and death are two things that we as humans must all face. The road from one to the other, from life to death, is a long and at times, both joyous and painful one. Robert Frost’s poems are a prime example of these times and trials. The poems I chose for this paper highlight them, and with Frost’s allegory, they present a sort of silver lining to the string of dark and dreary words he’s pieced together for these poems. The depressing tone to the poems “Acquainted with the Night”, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”, and “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowing Evening” could be attributed to the death of many of Frost’s family members, and how despite this he overcame it all, and at the end of his life, was a successful writer. These poems to not go into great explanation of the details of Frost’s life, however, I believe that they are representations of the things path that he’s walked, and how he viewed his actions and death in general.

The setting takes place in the daylight of the woods. I felt that Frost set the poem in the woods because it helps reader imagine trees, leaves, and bushes. Therefore readers know that the speaker is alone without any road signs or knowledge of any direction on which road to take. The “yellow wood”(1) means that its somewhere in the fall when the leaves are changing colors. The “yellow” brings out a beautiful image of the autumn to readers. The “yellow wood” means there is a continuous decision one makes in li...

Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic poem of the complications people must face in the course of their lives. Although it is not difficult to understand the meaning of the poem through it’s title, it is however hard to interpret what the author means when he describes the roads. Throughout the poem, the two roads appear similar at times and different at others. He uses free imagery to make his poem more complex for the audience.

The Deeper Meaning of The Road Not Taken, Fire and Ice, and Birches, by Robert Frost

“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words,” Robert Frost once said. As is made fairly obvious by this quote, Frost was an adroit thinker. It seems like he spent much of his life thinking about the little things. He often pondered the meaning and symbolism of things he found in nature. Many readers find Robert Frost’s poems to be straightforward, yet his work contains deeper layers of complexity beneath the surface. His poems are not what they seem to be at first glance. These deeper layers of complexity can be clearly seen in his poems “The Road Not Taken”, “Fire and Ice”, and “Birches”.

Life's Decisions Explored in The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

Throughout time, humans have always been required to make difficult, life-changing decisions often in their lives. Frequently they may wonder if they took the right decision, or if they would have a better life had they decided otherwise. Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, is a recollection of the speaker’s decision on which of two roads to take, this being a metaphor of a person making decisions in their life. These decisions obviously must be different, else they would be easy to make. In the poem, however, the roads look “about the same” making it an even more difficult decision for the speaker.

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

¡°The Road Not Taken¡± by Robert Frost is s poem of description as he was revealing what he experienced when he had to make a decision. The physical journey Robert Frost described in his poem was there were two different ways for him to choose where they would both end to the same place.

Robert Frost: Annotated Bibliography

Instructor Mendoza English 1B 22 July 2015. Robert Frost: Annotated Bibliography. Research Question: What are the common themes in Robert Frost's work? Robert Frost is a very successful poet from the 20th century, as well as a four time Pulitzer Prize winner.

Spring in the Kokinshū

For each seasonal section, there is a progression from beginning to end within the season. Each season is compiled in a progressive nature with poetry describing the beginning of a season coming before poetry for the end of the season. This is clear for spring, which starts with, “fallen snow [that] lingers on” and concludes with a poet lamenting that “spring should take its leave” (McCullough 14, 39). The imagery progresses from the end of winter, with snow still lingering around to when the signs of spring are disappearing. Although each poem alone does not show much in terms of the time of the year, when put into the context of other poems a timeline emerges from one season to the next. Each poem is linked to another poem when it comes to the entire anthology. By having each poem put into the context of another, a sense of organization emerges within each section. Every poem contributes to the meaning of a group of poems. The images used are meant to evoke a specific point in each season from the snow to the blossoms to the falling of the blossoms. Since each poem stands alone and has no true plot they lack the significance than if they were put into th...

The persona begins to think about how he cannot take both paths and be the same “traveler”

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Concept Implication in Robert Frost's Poetry " Reluctance "

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