Question: In what way Robert Frost is a modern poet? Discuss. Or, discuss Robert Frost as a modern poet.
Introduction
Robert Frost is a mix of both modern and traditional themes. In his poems, we find the traditions of the countryside and romantic traditions. It also appears before us that the poet is anti-romantic. He opposes romantic efforts, emphasizing the gulf that separates man and nature. The most striking feature of Frost’s modernity is the use of his technique. Considering his themes, he can be said classic – conventional as well as modern.
Robert Frost’s as a modern poet
It can be said that modern poetry began as a new attempt to solve the problems caused by science. The image, or what we call symbolism, represents the attempt to adapt to the physical information of reality in the most direct way in modern poetry. Frost’s poetry is not modern in this respect. Frost is the person who has tackled the very problems of modern man in his own way which is the concern of the symbolists.
Symbolism
It is an artistic and poetic style for expressing mystical ideas, emotions, and states of mind. It originated in the late nineteenth century and has become the lifeblood of modern poetry. As one of the most significant symbolists, Robert Frost tends to view reality differently. In Frost’s poetry of nature, this strategy is the result of his desire to recognize the validity of science. Despite the humor for romance, he can certainly be seen as anti-romantic. Romanticism is a place of values between sensation and physical nature where Frost holds the physical world as a separate level. His approach is to combine the scientific nature and the fields of human experience with the goal of seeing them as separate entities.
Realistic use of nature
Frost’s poems on nature are closely associated with the rural setting, and we know that he never treated nature as Wordsworth did; He portrayed the condition of the man with his love for nature. In the poem “Tree at My Window”, he likens the image of tolerance of human inner turmoil to the tolerance of trees in times of disaster.
“But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.”
Despite such problems in life, human beings must move forward. Thus, Frost’s use of nature is realistic, religious, and scientific because most prime religions ensure that nature is the greatest source of knowledge, perception, and understanding for man. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, the poet’s attraction to nature symbolizes his attraction to death due to heavy financial and mental crises. But in the end, he proclaims his inspirational philosophy in an unforgettable way.
“And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
Conflict of the human heart
Robert Frost even excels at T. S. Eliot in the case of showing the conflict of the human heart. Twenty-century people have been recognized as people of wandering hearts and brains. Addiction to excessive thinking made people conflicted. They were fond of evaluating results before taking action for a particular task. In all of his poems, Frost has shown such fervent conflict with a heavy inspirational solution. The poems such as “The Road Not Taken”, and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are the paramount examples. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker gets confused whensoever two roads appear in front of him. However, after a great confusion, he takes the less traveled road for his journey that makes all the difference for him.
“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Loneliness
Modern poetry is acclaimed for it has upheld the major problem of modern society that was loneliness. Society lost its form and people were separated from each other. The chaotic and excessively busy urban life resulted in everlasting loneliness. “Home Burial” and “The Death of the Hired Man” are two such poems that focus on intolerable loneliness, misunderstanding, lack of evaluation, and cruelty.
From the Device Perspective of Literature
As a modern poet, Frost’s core achievement is the discovery of a new blank-verse rhythm that is hardly different from his gift for drama and knowledge of the human condition. Since his blank verse is purely dramatic, its rhythmic style can only be captured in the complete context of developing character and feeling. For example, we can quote a few lines from the poem “The Death of the Hired Man”;
“Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk,
And nothing to look backward to with pride,
And nothing to look forward to with hope,
So now and never any different.”
Besides, Frost’s narrative technic even surpasses the narrative technic of the novelists. His interior monologue is really supreme.
Conclusion
Whether it is the technique or thematic point of view, Robert Frost is a true representative of modern and traditional trends.
