“One is the Loneliest Number” or “Does Zero Count?”
Abandonment and Singularity in Robert Frost’s “The Census- Taker”
Robert Frost’s approach to human isolation is always an interesting exploration. His poem of desertion and neglect paired with eternal hopefulness ignite the reader in his poem “The Census-Taker.” All of the elements of a Frost poem are in this particular poem. “The Census-Taker” must be from an earlier time in Frost’s career because the poem is written in an open, free verse similar to the style of his earlier 20th century poetry like “Mending Wall” and “After Apple-Picking.” Also, the language lacks the sophisticated word selection a reader of poetry might find in Wallace Stevens and instead uses simplicity to
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Moving forward, Frost’s usage of singular adjectives stands out like a sore thumb as he continues to describe the damaged home. The census- taker mentions “every tree,” (line 18) talks about the leafless trees that would not help a passerby identify the seasons. Grammatically, the adjective “every” carries a paradoxical element. “Every” plays the role of a singular modifier, yet it describes objects in a group a least larger than three and cannot be used for merely two objects. “Every” is not wholly singular as the adjective “each” may be, nor is it completely plural like the function of another adjective, “all.” Frost uses the isolating modifier “each” when he describes the slamming of the house’s door by its raucous inhabitants. He says, “… as if rude men/Passed in and slammed it such each one behind him/ for the next one to open for himself.” (line 29-30) We finally see people and community in the poem, and Frost immediately separates and individualizes his pack of men to suggest a segregation of psychological difference. It is important to point out that Frost’s option to use “anyone” (line 34) only occurs once, possibly because the idea of any one person to be present maybe to extreme in an area made of intense loneliness. This is a home where men are there for a clear purpose, and whatever that purpose may have been, it no longer
In Robert Frost’s poem “To the Thawing Wind,” in the literal sense, he is asking the Southwest wind to come, melt the snow and bring spring, but symbolically he is tired of the winter and wants warm weather. He wants to burst out of his cabin and have a good time, not thinking about poetry. The poet has been confined in his winter cabin and is wanting the wind and rain to melt the snow, so it will change his winter isolation. He has been longing for the “thawing wind” because that is when spring is coming. He is anticipating spring to come because it will bring him inspiration and the freedom needed to be able to do new things and enjoy everything good that comes with this season.
The Use of Literary Devices in Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Robert Frost takes our imagination to a journey through wintertime with 
his two poems "Desert Places" and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". These two poems reflect the beautiful scenery that is present in the snow covered woods and awakens us to new feelings. Even though these poems both have winter settings they contain very different tones. One has a feeling of depressing loneliness and the other a feeling of welcome solitude. They show how the same setting can have totally different impacts on a person depending on 
their mindset at the time. These poems are both made up of simple stanzas and diction but they are not straightforward poems.
Frost uses a multitude of poetic devices, including metaphors, irony, symbolism, hyperbole, and personification “Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. to vividly reinforce the desolation in the mind and the surroundings of the speaker. The uncertainty of the time in the end is a reflection of the uncertainty in the duration of isolation that the speaker would have to continue to endure. In conclusion, this poem displays the transition into night figuratively as the author experiences a broken heart. I have been one acquainted with the night.” (V,2 ). This is a beautiful and dark poem that describes the somber emotions that an individual endures after a separation. This poem can be relatable to anyone as we all have experienced some type of sorrow. Hopefully after experiencing something of this nature we can see the bright lights after being acquainted with the
According to Richard Wakefield in his essay “Thomas Eakins and Robert Frost: To Be a Natural Man in a Man- Made World” the poetry of Robert Frost, like the artwork of Thomas Eakins, describes the new dilemma that, in the wake of increasing industrialization between the end of the Civil War and the start of World War One, was now facing the American man (354). This dilemma centered around the fact that regimented, industrial society created an increased need for specialization and self- consciousness that then drove men to try to escape, typically through seeking a connection with nature, while at the same time always proceeding to impede them through its various constraints (Wakefield 354). Furthermore, I believe that such a dilemma can be seen in Robert Frost’s Acquainted with the Night, which poignantly illustrates the struggle of the unnamed speaker as they attempt to escape the confines of industrialized society through the formation of a connection with nature.
?The Road Not Taken? (1916) tells of someone faced with two of life?s decisions however only one can be chosen. Whichever road is taken will be final and will determine the direction that their life takes. Frost drives this poem by a calm and collective narrative, spoken by the traveler of the diverged roads. Who is speaking with himself trying to convince himself of which road is the better choice. Frost wrote this poem using standard, modern language.
Robert Frost is known for winning four Pulitzer Prizes was the Inaugural Poet for John. F. Kennedy in 1961. Some of Robert’s best work came during struggles in his personal life. Some issues he had to face were unexpected deaths of family members, unsuccessful attempt at farming, and having to move in order be recognized. In his poem, “Desert Places,” Frost explains the concepts of loneliness between himself and nature. With Robert Frost’s battle with personal issues and trying to be recognized as a poet, this poem explains the loneliness that he feels and the emptiness that is kept inside.
Conclusively, Frost uses multiple literary devices to create a more easily understood piece. Frost clearly depicts a real life situation in this poem by creating a problem involving decision making. Frost begins the poem by showing two roads, both covered in leaves. Both paths appear to be worn at about the same condition, but Frost cannot decide whether or not one road is better than another. He expresses his decision making process by elaborating on how he still would like to keep the first path for another day. However, he changes ideas and states how his decision that he took with the less traveled path was life-changing. The extended metaphor allows the reader to understand the figurative meaning of the roads, and apply them to real-life
Robert Frost had a fascination towards loneliness and isolation and thus expressed these ideas in his poems through metaphors. The majority of the characters in Frost’s poems are isolated in one way or another. In some poems, such as “Acquainted with the Night” and “Mending Wall,” the speakers are lonely and isolated from their societies. On other occasions, Frost suggests that isolation can be avoided by interaction with other members of society, for example in “The Tuft of Flowers,” where the poem changes from a speaker all alone, to realizing that people are all connected in some way or another. In Robert Frost’s poems “Acquainted with the Night,” “Mending Wall,” and “The Tuft of Flowers,” the themes insinuate the idea of loneliness
Robert Frost’s poetic techniques serve as his own “momentary stay against confusion,” or as a buffer against mortality and meaninglessness in several different ways; in the next few examples, I intend to prove this. Firstly, however, a little information about Robert Frost and his works must be provided in order to understand some references and information given.
Poetry is a literary medium which often resonates with the responder on a personal level, through the subject matter of the poem, and the techniques used to portray this. Robert Frost utilises many techniques to convey his respect for nature, which consequently makes much of his poetry relevant to the everyday person. The poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and “The mending wall” strongly illuminate Frost’s reverence to nature and deal with such matter that allows Frost to speak to ordinary people.
“The Road Not Taken” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay” are just two of many very famous poems, written by none other than Robert Frost. Robert Frost is a poet that is well known for his poetic contributions to nature, as well as his award winning poems. His poetic ability and knowledge make him an extraordinary author. His past; including schooling, family, and the era in which he wrote influenced nearly all of his poems in some way. This very famous poet contributed to the modernism era, had a family and an interesting life story, and a unique poetic style as well.
“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words,” Robert Frost once said. As is made fairly obvious by this quote, Frost was an adroit thinker. It seems like he spent much of his life thinking about the little things. He often pondered the meaning and symbolism of things he found in nature. Many readers find Robert Frost’s poems to be straightforward, yet his work contains deeper layers of complexity beneath the surface. These deeper layers of complexity can be clearly seen in his poems “ The Road Not Taken”, “Fire and Ice”, and “Birches”.
“The problem of alienation is a pervasive theme in the classics of sociology, and the concept has a prominent place in contemporary work”(Seeman). Alienation is one of the biggest problems in the modern world today. From being alienated at work to your skin color, almost everyone has been alienated in some way or form. In many poems by the 20th century poet, Robert Frost, he focuses on different forces of alienation throughout the New England area. Robert, born in 1874, was raised in New England, stirring the fire for his poem. Many call him one of the best poets in American history. The majority of his poems start as simple word pictures, then move toward vivid and complex ideas. In the poems, Mending wall, Out Out, and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Frost expresses many types of alienation.
Robert Frost’s nature poetry occupies a significant place in the poetic arts; however, it is likely Frost’s use of nature is the most misunderstood aspect of his poetry. While nature is always present in Frost’s writing, it is primarily used in a “pastoral sense” (Lynen 1). This makes sense as Frost did consider himself to be a shepherd.