Robert Frost's Poem of the Week

Hey everyone,

Today we will finally take a look into a piece written by our poet of the week, Robert Frost.
Let us take a moment to read the poem of the week and watch out for any literary features, for example, rhyme scheme, alliteration, irony, etc. From the examples that you have, you can compare them at the end with my commentary.
So let us get started and I hope that you enjoy this particular poem I chose:

Good Hours

by:Robert Frost

I had for my winter evening walk--
No one at all with whom to talk,
But I had the cottages in a row
Up to their shining eyes in snow.

And I thought I had the folk within:
I had the sound of a violin;
I had a glimpse through curtain laces
Of youthful forms and youthful faces.

I had such company outward bound.
I went till there were no cottages found.
I turned and repented, but coming back
I saw no window but that was black.

Over the snow my creaking feet
Disturbed the slumbering village street
Like profanation, by your leave,
At ten o'clock of a winter eve.


What did you all think?

Robert Frost is a writer that many people can enjoy and sometimes relate to. It is simple to understand, with many literary features in just a few lines. He goes straight into the point, taking us into his thoughts, hopes and dreams.
Did you notice anything of each first two and second two phrases of each stanza? I am sure you noticed that the last word of a phrase was followed by a rhyme in the last word of the phrase that followed.
Each stanza is simply four lines, however each line was enough to indulge us into wanting to know more.
Let us look at the first stanza, he gives us a lonely image of the protagonist (main character,) as he is alone. However, a sudden tint of metaphor is used when he describes the cottages, which could be what he sees in 'covered in snow.' The use of 'Up to their shining eyes,' could give a slight use of humor, however in the literal form could it be the windows of the cottage that are really shinning? Suddenly, sound interrupts what was once mere silence, a violin. This instrument takes us back through time, it creates a happy atmosphere as the character also begins to think of young images he saw between 'curtain laces,' which could have been the shades or curtains that he was actually looking through. The violin seems to have lifted up the spirit of the sad character.
He continues to say that he had friends or what he exactly said, 'company,' far away. He gives us the idea that he wanted to walk in the direction of finding them in their houses or cottage so as to seek them. However, there were no houses, hence no friends in sight. A he turns back the color imagery that was once whit, formed by the snow, is soon 'black.' This could be how he feels, through the black image.
He continues to walk back as his feet crack, which could show how they are frozen creating a crackling sound. Finally, the last line explains that it is winter eve, where snow is and the clearness of the land should create happiness, however in truth he is not happy; for he is alone.

Now, take a moment to look back at your notes (I hope you did comment on the poem before reading my commentary,) just to check if we came up with similar ideas. If not, please post other ideas that you may have come up with... I can't wait to hear from you! Read more!

Robert Frost's Poem Review update

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to let everyone know that the Robert Frost poem review will be coming out maximum Thursday evening!

I apologize for the delay.

In the meantime i would love to see what other poet everyone would want me to write about next week.

Thank you...


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Robert Frost and his Enlightening World

Hey!

Finally we will be looking at the poet of the week! This week we are going to look at a modern poet. Can you guess who? Give up?

It is Robert Frost.

You may have heard of him one time or another, however this time we are going to get more of an idea of who he really was! Obviously, he was a poet, however like many poets there is so much more to know about them and their world of writing.
He was born in San Fransisco in 1874 and lived in Massachusetts. His first poem was called, “My Butterfly: An Elegy,” which was published when he was only 20 years old.
In 1912, he moved to England and continued to write poetry. Along the way he met other great writers who provided him with much encouragement to take his writing into a higher level and to have them more recognized amongst the public. As one may know, he did not fail! He won two Pulitzer Prizes and continued to attain fame with his poetry, many that showed and reflected a negative impact amongst the readers.
Frost died in January 1963, leaving behind many pieces of poetry that are learned in classrooms or are merely read for sheer pleasure.
Stepping away from Frost and his life, we can contemplate what poets think about when pencil and paper are at hand. Considering Frost had a rather difficult yet successful life along the way, do you think that his poetry reflected his personal life? Or could it coincidently reflect your own? An interesting exercise to put together while reading poetry is to question yourself about the piece that is being read. Especially with Frost's work.

This week, read a few of Frost's poetry and see what you think. Soon we will be studying one of his poems more carefully by applying more broad and general questions towards his writing.

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