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Robert Frost

Robert Frost
Frost wrote Mending Wall while he was living in England just before World

War One. He used the poem to remind himself of his home in America.
He wrote the poem in such a way that it could either be about his
relationship with his neighbour or about relationships with anyone
anywhere.
He liked to use language as it is actually spoken. The many simple lines in
the poem show this.
He is a poet of deep thoughts. Behind his descriptions you can find
spiritual meaning.
Mending Wall shows Frost's ability to unite rural description with deep
thinking.

Mending Wall
Mending Wall is a simple story about a simple ritual. In the poem,

Robert Frost is describing an annual task. The poet annually meets

up with his neighbour to mend their wall. The poem is a reflection
on the need for boundaries and the importance in society.

The poet is thinking about real walls and why they fall down. Frost
is also thinking about the importance of boundaries and why we
should always be willing to question things.

The neighbour sees the wall as a necessity but Robert Frost sees it
as a boundary. He believes that the need for boundaries should be
questioned. While walls protect, they also prevent communication
as each man stays on their own side of the wall.

Mending Wall
The use of I makes it more like a monologue, a one-person dramatic speech.
The poem is a story with a narrator.
It is also in the present tense, which helps to emphasise the idea that it is
actually happening while the reader reads the poem.

The use of a word like oh is like a filler from everyday speech. Such words also
express immediate emotions.

The poem is set in the countryside in spring.

Frost describes the border between two farms. While writing about a physical
wall, Frost also describes the character of his neighbour. Frost compares his
neighbour to himself.

Frost also ponders or considers what makes good neighbours

Out, Out The Title

The title of this poem comes from Shakespeares play
Macbeth. The character Macbeth says Out, out brief
candle! Lifes but a walking shadow. Macbeth was
comparing how easy it is for a candle to be blown out to
how quickly a life can end.

Out, Out
This poem is a lament. The poem refers to the fragility of life.
In opening line of the poem describes the buzz of the saw
which has a character of its own. It is nasty and mean and
straight away creates a sinister tone in the poem.

The poet describes the work that is being done.

The poet says Call it a day, I wish they might have said. We
hear the poets voice directly as he wishes the tragedy could
have been avoided.

Out, Out
Suddenly the poem takes a dramatic twist. The saw moves
suddenly as if its got a mind of its own. The saw is given a
savage personality as it leaps out to the boys hand.

The poor boy is unable to do anything once the accident

has happened. The poet stresses how young the poor boy
was.

Doing a mans work, though a child at heart

Out, Out
Finally the poet describes the boys family gathered
around him as the boys pulse fades from Little to less
to nothing.

The final line of the poem is cold and lacks emotion as the
poet tells us that the family go back to their work once the
boy has died.

There is no mention of love or mourning.

Language in Out, Out

In the poem Out, Out- by Robert Frost, the poets use of
language brings the events of the poem to life in an effective and
vivid way. The poet uses personification throughout the poem to
describe the saw as if it was a living creature. This use of
personification makes the events of the poem frightening and
aggressive. Frost repetitively tells us that the saw snarled and
rattled in the yard as the boy worked. This use of personification
creates a very tense atmosphere in the poem which warns us that
this saw is like a dangerous, aggressive creature.

Language
Frost also uses onomatopoeia in the poem with the words Buzz and snarled
and rattled. The zz sound in buzz helps us to imagine the sound of the saw.
The words snarled and rattled add to the already tense atmosphere in the
poem.

Frost uses language in the poem that appeals to our five senses. This use of

language and sensuous description helps us to imagine the poem as if we are

there and it makes the entire poem come to life as we read it. We can imagine
smelling the freshly cut wood, we can see the mountain ranges lit up by the
sunset and we can almost feel the young boys fading pulse when Frost tells us
it was: Little-less-nothing

Frosts use of language is central to the readers understanding of the poem

and also to help bring the poem to life.

The Tuft of Flowers

This poem is a poem which discusses how humans relate to each
other.

It is an example of a parable. A parable uses symbols to get its

message across.

The speaker in the poem is lonely. His loneliness represents how all
of us feel sometimes.

The butterfly in the poem represents how the speaker becomes

gradually more aware of the more important things in life. He has an
epiphany.

The Tuft of Flowers

The poet uses a normal situation to show a deep point about life
and culture and what it means to be a human.

The poet is looking for the person who was there before him.
The poet is hoping for some company and human contact.
He accepts however that he is all alone. Just as he does so a
butterfly joins him.

The butterfly makes the poet think of the unanswered questions

in life.

The Tuft of Flowers

The poet is fascinated that the worker has left the flowers and he
feel empathy towards his co-worker.

He believes that his predecessor must be someone who thinks the

same as he does and someone who also appreciates the beauty of
nature.

The poet no longer feels alone.

He finally comes to the conclusion that there is always someone out

there who will appreciate the fine, natural things in life. He realises
how important it is to find a soulmate someone whose thoughts are
the same as your own.

The Tuft of Flowers

This poem has an up-lifting conclusion.
The poet leaves us with the thought that humans can bond
with others and that we are not as alone as we might
think.