The Poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost Five Sources The poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost contains similar themes and ideas. Both poets attempt to romanticize nature and both speak of death and loneliness. Although they were more than fifty years apart, these two seem to be kindred spirits, poetically speaking. Both focus on the power of nature, death, and loneliness.
The main way in which these two differ is in their differing use of tone. The power of nature is a recurring theme in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. Dickinson uses this theme in her poem ‘ ‘Nature’ is what we see -.’ The power of nature is strongly portrayed in this poem by Dickinson’s articulation of what the speaker see’s in nature. ‘ ‘Nature’ is what we see -… / Nature is what we hear -… / Nature is what we know -‘ (277 lines 1, 5, 9).
Nature is everything to a person, it appeals to all senses. Dickinson also says in this poem, ‘So impotent Our Wisdom is / To her Simplicity’ (277).
The speaker is saying that nature has such great power that one can’t even comprehend her simplest ways. In comparison Frost’s poem ‘Birches’ also portrays the power of nature. Nature helps to represent the simpler things in life. Frost’s poem is recalling the speakers childhood.
The Essay on Comparing 3 Robert Frost Poems
Comparing Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Birches, and The Road Not taken Robert Frost was an American poet that first became known after publishing a book in England. He soon came to be one of the best-known and loved American poets ever. He often wrote of the outdoors and the three poems that I will compare are of that outdoorsy type. There are several likenesses and differences in ...
‘So was I once myself a swinger of birches. / And so I dream of going back to be’ (472-473).
Nature held such power over the speaker as a child that he dreamt of going back to relive being one with nature and swinging in the trees. Dickinson and Frost both used death and loneliness as main themes. In Emily’s poem ‘my life closed twice before its close -‘ it has been interpreted that the speakers life closed twice when two lovers died leaving the speaker alone.
The speaker also refers to her own death when it is said, ‘If Immortality unveil / A third event to me’ (278).
The third event is referring to the speakers own death. In the last two lines of the poem, ‘Parting is all we know of heaven, / And all we need of hell’ (278).
The speaker is talking about heaven being the relief of seeing pain end for the loved one. The interpretation of hell is the pain and grief that one feels after a loved one has died. Like Dickinson, Frost also conveys the themes of death and, even more so, loneliness.
In his poem, ‘Acquainted with the Night’ the speaker ‘out walked the furthest city light’ (466).
The narrator of this poem has walked outside of society. He has ‘walked out in rain-and back in rain’ (466), this symbolizes that the speaker has endured a lot. Frost’s poem ‘Fire and Ice’ not only speaks of the end of the world, but also the end of the speaker himself: Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. (466.
1-4) The speaker has been in love and knows that desire, that is why he wants to end in the heat of fire. The speaker then talks about how he would feel if he had to die twice: But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. (466. 5-9) Here the speaker is saying that he knows enough about hate not to want to feel the pain that the emotion can cause. Ice is referring to the heart turned stone cold so that emotion can’t be felt. Therefore, destruction by ice is also great.
Frost and Dickinson are similar when it comes to themes but they differ when it comes to style. Tone, for example, is one aspect in which these poets differ. Emily Dickinson’s tone, or attitude, is very negative throughout her poetry. She consistently writes of death, and is not very optimistic. On the other hand Robert Frost has a more optimistic tone. Although he still writes of death and loneliness he gives a feeling of hope in his writing.
The Term Paper on Theme Of Death In Emily Dickinson Poetry
Theme of Death in Emily Dickinson Poetry Not one of Emily Elizabeth Dickinsons readers has met the woman who lived and died in Amherst, Massachusetts more than a century ago, yet most of those same readers who have come to understand her through her work feel as if they know her closely. However it was her reclusive life that made understanding her quite difficult. However, taking a close look at ...
Frost’s poetry is softened by his natural, conversational tone where as Dickinson’s poems are all lyrical and aim for a single effect. In ‘Acquainted with the Night’ the overall feeling is solitude. The narrator ‘walked out in the rain – and back in rain… and stood still and stopped the sound of feet’ (Frost 466), thus, creating a feeling of quiet contemplation. In contrast Dickinson writes ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,’ also about solitude; however, her poem does not speak so quietly, for example ‘Kept beating- beating – till I thought / my Mind was going numb – ‘ (283) gives a harsh feeling that is not at all peaceful.
Loneliness, death, and nature are all common themes existing in the poetry of both Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. Although their themes are similar the tone at which the poem is spoken tends to give off a different feeling. Emily speaks with such negativity, where as Frost’s poem still gives some feeling of hope. Frost and Dickinson were both great poets of their time who shared many of the same ideas but delivered them differently. Works Cited and Consulted Bray, Paul.
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Ernst, Katharina. ”It was not Death, for I stood up… .’ : ‘Death’ and the Lyrical I.’ Emily Dickinson journal 6. 1 (1997): 1-25. Frost, Robert. ‘Acquainted with the Night.’ American Literature.
The Essay on Emily Dickinson Spent A Large Portion Of He Life In
Emily Dickinson spent a large portion of he life in isolation. While others concerned themselves with normal daily activities, Emily was content to confine herself to her house, her garden, and her poetry. Due to her uncommon lifestyle, she was considered odd and was never respected as the great poet she is now recognized as. Living life as an outsider, her poems are written from a perspective we ...
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p 472, 473… ‘Fire and Ice’ American Literature. New York: Scribner Laidlaw. 1989. p 466. Freeman, Margaret.
‘Metaphor Making Meaning: Dickinson’s Conceptual Universe.’ Journal of Pragmatics 24 (1995): 643-666. Nester uk, Peter. ‘The Many Deaths of Emily Dickinson.’ Emily Dickinson journal 6. 1 (1997): 25-44. White, Fred D. ”Sweet Skepticism of the Heart’: Science in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson.’ College Literature 19.
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