Assignment 108- HESITATION IN ROBERT FROST’S POETRY.

 HESITATION IN ROBERT FROST’S POETRY.

“The universe is a rhythm; if we listen closely, we can hear its poetry.”

― Natalia Beshqoy

Life:

Robert Frost was an American poet who depicted realistic New England life through language and situations familiar to the common man. He won four Pulitzer Prizes for his work and spoke at John F. Kennedy's 1961 inauguration. He was born on 26 March 1874 in California and for around 11 years of his life lived there until his father died of tuberculosis. after that his mother and sister went to Massachusetts with his grandparents. He attended Lawrence School and later Dartmouth college and because of the financial issues he has to leave his college Halfway. later he went to Harvard University but dropped out after 2 years due to health issues.

He got married to Elinor White. they both were attending Lawrence High School, she was his co-valedictorian when they studied in graduation. in 1984 Frost proposed Elinor. she refused because she wanted to study further. Frost then decided to leave on a trip to Virginia after returning from the trip. He again proposed to White and she accepted they got married. They had 6 children out of them only two daughters were alive.

After getting married, in 1900 Frost with his wife and children went to you New Hampshire where they had property, and started farming. They attempted to make their life for the next 12 years. it was a fruitful time for Frost's writing but it was a very difficult period for their personal life. Elinor and Frost attempted various activities like poultry farming for having better earnings but all were unsuccessful. despite all these challenges they grew quite well, got acclaim in the life of the countryside, and began to write poetry about the countryside. 

Robert Frost’s first poet ‘My Butterfly: An Elegy’ was published in the journal in New Hampshire. he was not getting any publishers to publish his poetry. Later, they decided to sell the farm and move with the family to England with the hope of getting a new publisher and a chance to meet new poets. after moving to England he found a publisher, and he published his poetries. he also met the poets like Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas who played a significant role in the life of Robert Frost as a poet.

Robert Frost was not known for the 40 years of his life but he was a reputation his following life and was well received by the literary world. In 1916 he published a ‘Mountain Interval’, a collection of other works that he created in England and various other Publications. In the latter part of his life after his wife died, he started a teaching profession in various schools and colleges. he has won 4 Pultizer Prizes and around 40 honorary degrees. a person who was not known for 40 years of his life got a chance at the age of 86 to recite his poetry ‘The Road not Taken’ in the presence of President John F Kennedy in 1961. He died on 29th January 1936 due to complications in the surgery. 

We will discuss his two poetries: ‘The Road not Taken’ and ‘Stopping By The Woods’ 

The Road Not Taken (1915)

"The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem by Robert Frost, first published in the August 1915 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, and later published as the first poem in the collection Mountain Interval (1916). Its central theme is the divergence of paths, both literally and figuratively, although its interpretation is noted for being complex and potentially divergent. The poem consists of four stanzas of five lines each. With the rhyme scheme as 'ABAAB'.

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

In the poem the speaker is moving through the forest and is an is regretting that he or she is unable to travel on both the road and for a long time and tries to decide on which path he must walk, which will lead him. after deciding for a long period the speaker is taking another path and thinking it to be a good choice. supposing that it is grassy and looks less worn so it must be less traveled. then further in the poetry, he says that in the morning both the path were looking the same it is actually difficult to decide which route is less traveled. in the poem speaker says that he or she has kept the first path for the next time but doubts whether he will get a chance to come for the second time or not. Moving on to the choice of a past he has taken the speaker's images of himself or herself in the future and as if he is telling a story that the choice of road that he made is the only reason for the best and better future he is having.  

In this poetry, we find the hesitation of a poet or speaker to choose one path. The roads in the poem are metaphorical for the path to be chosen in life. The poem is not affirming that if one chooses a path that is less traveled, they will definitely get what they want or they will be in their life. it is just a chance that can happen in life. poetry shows the theme of non-conformity and individualism, in the poem the speaker wants to have his or her individual choice but he or she has also no confirmation that whether his or her choice will be good or bad will be resulting in or not. poetry very aptly depicts the hesitation in the mind of the speaker to choose a path. the poem shows very minor examples of a speaker being in a forest, poetry depicts the situation of life a point in life comes when you have to choose one path and have to leave another.

Stopping by the Woods (1923)

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem by Robert Frost, written in 1922, and published in 1923 in his New Hampshire volume. The text of the poem reflects the thoughts of a lone wagon driver (the narrator), pausing at night in his travel to watch the snow falling in the woods. It ends with him reminding himself that, despite the loveliness of the view, "I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep."

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

In the poem stopping by the woods, the speaker is standing in the woods and appreciating the Woods. the narration about the woods makes a realization that the speaker wants to stay in the woods. he or she loves nature and wants to be in nature but in the last few lines of the poetry that so poet or the narrator or the speaker is not able to stay in the wood and enjoy the wood because of the materialistic world or social obligations that he or she has to follow. he wants to be in a nature but there is a society that won't allow him he has made promises to his family that he has to follow. Here ‘sleep’ might be meaning death; it can be interpreted as completely giving himself or herself to nature. he has much more to do in his life according to society and societal rules before he does something for himself. This poetry is very aptly depicted hesitation in the mind of the speaker to choose personal desire all to follow the societal rules.

Conclusion:

In the above-discussed poem, we can easily see the hesitation of the speaker or the narrator. We can interpret this hesitation about choosing a self individual life or the family life which is based on the societal rules and the other poem depicts the confusion between the choosing paths. To choose a path followed by everyone or to follow individualism with non-conformity. We can interpret that this hesitation in the poetries is from the personal life experience of Robert Frost. Both the poetries seem to be influenced by his personal life. As we discussed his personal life, after his father’s death he couldn't study in college and had to work for the earnings and later health issues didn't let him study. He got married and after that in spite of his wish to be a poet and write poetry he had to work hard, do farming and earn for the family. He was completely bounded to follow societal rules. Later around the age of 40, he chose to follow his passion for his writing and poetry. 

Thus, we can clearly read the hesitation in the poems of Frost, the hesitation between personal desire, non-conformity, and social obligations.

Works Cited

Beshqoy, Natalia. If Stars Could Speak. Natalia Beshqoy, 2021.

Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation, 1915, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken. Accessed 9 May 2022.

Frost, Robert, and Henry Holt. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert….” Poetry Foundation, 1923, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42891/stopping-by-woods-on-a-snowy-evening. Accessed 9 May 2022.