Poems relate to many people in society. Two poems that relate to a character in a novel are “Desert Places” by Robert Frost and “Mirage” by Christina Rossetti; they relate to the main character, Ethan Frome, in the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.
In the poem “Desert Places,” Robert Frost portrays snow falling down to the point where all you can see is bright white with a little bit of shrubs and weeds sticking out of the ground. He describes the frozen desert very vividly. In one of the stanzas Robert Frost says, “All animals are smothered in their lairs.” The word “smothered” can relate to the feelings of Ethan Frome. Ethan is smothered in a way by his duties and missions in Starkfield, and can’t do what he truly wants to do. Moreover, the setting of the poem is also much like the setting of Ethan Frome. It was a harsh and bitter winter in which the town of Starkfield is covered entirely with snow with some weeds stick out the ground. Another fact that is noteworthy would be that like the animals from Robert Frosts, “Desert Places,” were just as trapped in their lairs as the people in Ethan From were trapped in Starkfield.
In the poem “Mirage,” Christina Rosetti talks about her hopes of her dream and that she is now awakened, and she knows that her dream can not be accomplished. In the third line of her poem she says, “Exceeding comfortless, and worn and old.” This line, along with the theme of theme of this poem, can go along with the themes of Ethan Frome. Ethan had a dream. His dream was to leave Starkfield and live a happy life with Mattie. However, this dream did not come true. Instead, it led to disaster, heartache, and pain. He was himself caught up in a real life dream in which he was awakened by catastrophe.
The Essay on Langston Hughes' Poem "Dream Deferred"
Langston Hughes was part of the Harlem Renaissance and was known as “the poet laureate of Harlem.” His poems tell of the joys and miseries of the ordinary black man in America. In Hughes’ poem “Dream Deferred” he uses figures of speech, tone, and a unifying theme to show how black people’s dreams were delayed. Hughes uses similes and metaphors–figures of ...
The line from the poem can somewhat show the state that Ethan is in many years after his dream has been traumatized. He is now “comfortless, worn, and old.” He has given up his dreams because he can do nothing to try to achieve them so now he is just like Christina Rosetti who hangs up her harp on a tree. In addition she hangs her harp up on a weeping willow in a lake. A weeping willow can symbolize sorrow and a lake in which the tree is set can symbolize loneliness. This applies to Ethan’s case because he is a forever state of sorrow and loneliness. The last lines of the poem say, “Life, and the world, and mine own self, are changed for a dreams’ sake.” This is very true to Ethan Frome in that Ethan and the people around him have been changed because of his dream.
All of these examples are significant to and easily illustrate how poems and novels can have common themes, settings, and moods. The poems “Desert Places and “Mirage” are the perfect literary works to reflect the themes of Ethan Frome.
