Frost Context Flashcards
Into my own context
Frost’s self-doubt as a poet has been well documented, and was amplified by the fact that he was initially unable to have any of his collected poems published in America. However, he was able to find initial success and some renewed confidence when A Boy’s Will was published in 1913 in England. He had begun to come “into his own” as a poet.
Into my own context pt 2
It is therefore significant that Into My Own, which was first published in a magazine in 1909, was chosen by Frost to open this collection of poetry that brought him success and recognition. It seems that Frost himself was starting to become “Only more sure of all [he] thought was true”.
Into my own context pt 3
In a letter Frost wrote in 1913, he stated “When the life of the streets perplexed me a long time ago, I attempted to find an answer to it for myself by going literally into the wilderness”.
Into my own context pt 4
“Solitude for reflection is an essential ingredient in self-development. I think a person has to be withdrawn into himself to gather inspiration so that he is somebody when he comes out again among folks–when he “comes to market’ with himself. He learns that he’s got to be almost wastefully alone.” - Robert Frost
Mowing context
This poem was written around the time Frost owned and worked on his inherited farm in New England and would have engaged in rural activities similar to the ones depicted in the poem.
Mowing context pt 2
Being a rural labourer, Frost understood the benefit of work for work’s sake. He acknowledged the pleasure that can be experienced by participating in such rural work and realised that happiness and contentment can be found in simple reality; he does not always need to seek something profound or fantastical.
Mowing context pt 3
This attitude is also present in his poetry, particularly Mowing. Frost was initially unable to get his poems published in America due to his focus on rural labour and the lives of ordinary people. Mowing asserts the right of the everyday aspects of life to be explored in poetry.
Going for water context
This poem describes Hyla Brook, a brook on Frost’s farm in New Hampshire.
Frost draws upon the joy he felt in the rural environment he often occupied, and distils it into a child-like journey of wonder into the natural landscape.
Going for water context pt 2
At this time, Frost had 4 young children and was perhaps influenced by watching his children grow up and enjoy life on their farm.
The critic John Robert Doyle, Jr. called it “a poem of almost inaudible young love”.
Going for water context pt 3
Due to the somewhat strained nature of Frost’s marriage to his wife, Elinor, this early poem (published in A Boy’s Will in 1913) could be written as a reminder of their love for one another.
Mending wall context
This poem comes from Frost’s rural experiences. Frost owned an apple orchard on his farm in New Hampshire, while his neighbour Napoleon Guay, owned the pine trees on the other side of a wall.
Mending wall context pt 2
The two would regularly walk along the wall that separated their property and mend it, while Guay would regularly spout the phrase “Good fences make good neighbours” during the work.
Mending wall context pt 3
The alienation felt by the speakercould come from Frost’s own feelings: biographers have suggested that Frost sometimes felt alienated from other people.
After apple-picking context
This is also allegorical poem that could describe his feelings about poetry. This poem was composed in 1913, immediately after his first book of poetry (A Boy’s Will) was published after years of struggle and gaining little favourable notice.
After apple-picking context pt 2
This poem may be a response to that disappointment, an expression of his uncertainty about his future as a poet. The meaning of the poem could be applied to Frost and poetry- about an endeavour which the participant loves and enjoys but finds exhausting due to the loving effort required.
The road not taken context
This poem was inspired by Frost’s friend and fellow poet, Edward Thomas. When speaking of this poem and Thomas, Frost would flippantly say that Thomas often expressed regret for whatever decisions he had taken. Also, when they went on walks together, Thomas was apparently chronically indecisive about what path to take.
The road not taken context pt 2
Frost wanted to use this poem to dramatize the choices we are faced with in life and the consequences of those choices.
The poem’s imagery draws upon Frost’s rural life in New England
Birches context
A 12 year old Frost first climbed birch trees on his uncle’s farm in New Hampshire – swinging on birches was a popular game for children in rural areas of New England at the time.
Birches context pt 2
Frost once told an audience “it was almost sacrilegious climbing a birch tree till it bent, till it gave and swooped to the ground. But that’s what boys did in those days”.
Birches context pt 3
This poem was published in 1916, when Frost was a father to young children. The child-like joy of swinging on birches present in the poem may have also come from his children enjoying the same experience.
Out out context
Inspiration for this poem came from a real life incident in New Hampshire in 1910. 16 year old Raymond Fitzgerald was heling to cut wood outside, accidentally hitting the loose pulley and causing the saw to fall on his hand almost severing it. He soon went into shock and died of heart failure.
Out out context pt 2
The story was documented in a newspaper article in the Littleton Courier, which informed the narrative style of the poem and the matter-of-fact delivery in places.
Out out context pt 3
Frost had met the Fitzgerald family with his children during summer visits to Bethlehem, New Hampshire and Frost wrote this poem in memory of Raymond.
For once then something context
This poem can be linked to Frost’s struggles as a poet and farmer at the beginning of both endeavours.
