Poetry Essay Compare & Contrast: Williams vs. Frost

In Seamus Heaney’s poetry, there is a recurring theme of his talking of the past, and more predominantly about significant moments in time, where he came to realisations that brought him to adulthood. In “Death of a Naturalist” Heaney describes a moment in his childhood where he learnt that nature was not as beautiful as seem to be when he was just a naive child. Heaney does this on a deeper level in “Midterm Break” describes his experience of his younger brothers funeral and the mixed, confusing feelings he encountered, consequently learning that he no longer was a child, and had no choice but to be exposed to reality. Robert Frost in one sense also describes particular moments in time, where his narrator comes to realisations. However,

     Frost moves onto autumn and shows what little life is left begins to wither and fall, or as he put it in the first line of the third set ?Then leaf subsides to leaf.? The playful spirit of the young is lost in time as age quickly pours what seems like endless duties upon adults. Things once learned are forgotten and the sun creeps slowly below the horizon. Time once again takes it toll on all things living

This can be seen in the poem “Brothers and Sisters” in which the literal and figurative levels of reality are joined. Wright does this through the use of pathetic fallacy, ensuring that she moves beyond simple description, to show that every aspect of the siblings’ lives is reflective of the environment that they live in. This is represented in the metaphor ‘the road turned out to be a cul-de sac, stopped like a lost intention”. Wright implies that the dead end of the street is reflective of the lack of fertility both in and outside the house, there is no movement forwards as the lives of those within it have ceased, the siblings are unmarried with no children, thus there is no new life being created. Wright has done this to ensure that that audience is aware of this process, rather than providing simple descriptions which can often be misleading. Neither the surrounding environment or the siblings are taking part in the evolutionary process of creating life, this sense of fruitless passing of time is furthered through the employment of the simile “years grew like grass and leaves” suggesting, although hindered there is an emotional connection present. By representing their lives as slow- growing and little- moving it continues to showcase the similarities between the landscape and its inhabitants, demonstrating that the environment grows old just as they do. Yet another representation of the landscape within the characters is seen in the inevitability of death, for the landscape and its inhabitants. This can be seen through the use of direct speech “There is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all”. This repetitive reassurance demonstrates their fear of death and the destructive nature of it, as witnessed in the landscape. The irony here is that with each

The title itself gives us important clues about this poem. From the beginning before even reading the first line of the poem, we know that it will be a sad story. The widow being someone who has experienced a loss and lament is a word used for passionate grief and sorrow. Springtime is a time of growth and rebirth, the affirming of new life. Williams’ title may lead us to believe that the widow is in the early stages of life without her husband and the early stages of grief. This may be her first spring without her husband. She is exploring the overwhelming feelings of grief over losing her husband, comparing her grief to the new life or blooming of her yard.

Most people know the poem “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost. It is pretty famous. But do most people know the meaning of this unique poem? What does Robert Frost mean when he writes “if the world had to perish twice?” Although it is short, “Fire and Ice” is a puzzling poem filled with words that hold a meaning that we have to unlock.

It creates a mood that readers can understand. Williams does a wonderful job contrasting death and life; his use of “attiring” and “disattiring” basically narrates how trees lose their leaves, leaving them “clothless”, but then the branches are preparing for what’s to come--their rebirth in the coming season. The liquid moon makes me think that he’s trying to create irony; the moon is liquid, as if melted, even though it’s winter time and everything is supposed to be frozen. The irony is subtle, yet very impactful when you notice it. Perhaps the long branches represent the strength of the trees despite the harsh environment around them. The buds can be seen as children being prepared by their parents for what’s to come, possible teaching them what to do and what not to do so that they can survive the winter and bloom in the spring. Like letting a child go off to college after years of care so that they can become their own person. The “wise trees” have experience, an experience that they have to share with their “buds”. The wise stand sleeping in the cold to take their last breath and let their children take their places. This poem is very meaningful because Williams creates a very important similarity between the trees and humans. Readers can relate because most parents go through the stage of letting their children go and letting them continue what they

Poetry is considered to be a representational text in which one explores ideas by using symbols. Poetry can be interpreted many different ways and is even harder to interpret when the original author has come and gone. Poetry is an incredible form of literature because the way it has the ability to use the reader as part of its own power. In other words, poetry uses the feelings and past experiences of the reader to interpret things differently from one to another, sometimes not even by choice of the author. Two famous poets come to mind to anybody who has ever been in an English class, Robert Frost and E.E. Cummings. Both of these poets have had numerous famous pieces due to the fact that they both

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 environment that one is living in can supply hope. Todd Davis showed this through a seasonal metaphor. The narrator of the poem talks about weather changing and getting better, providing the metaphor. The weather getting warmer and the arrival of spring symbolizes new life and a new start. The narrator ponders, “I’m not sure/ why he couldn’t wait,” then later talks about blossoms opening (Davis 787, 4-5). This quote and other hints about spring are discussing how the new season is bringing new hope for many. The narrator says that “we understand/ the ones who decide to leave us in February” (Davis 787, 5-6). This is discussing how during the winter, life can feel so

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.

By the end of the poem there is another shift in tone. The tone takes on a more hopeful meaning. Now, Bryant uses the spring season to compare to a new age. He mentions, “The youth in life's green spring, and he who goes/ In the full strength of years, matron, and maid,/ The bow'd with age, the infant in the smiles.”(68-70) The rebirth of human life compares to nature in the sense that when nature is reborn in springtime everything turns green. The reader ends the poem with an enlightened sense of feeling instead of the dark and gloomy feeling they felt at the beginning of the poem.

Snow here could represent dullness or loneliness. Frost feels that everything or everyone around him are filled with loneliness, no excitement and everything seems to be the same. Line four in the poem says that “But a few weeds and stubble showing last.” Here it tells us that although dullness, emptiness, or loneliness covered almost everything around him, he could still see some life or excitement somewhere in between. Yet this small bits of life and excitement were nothing compared to the overwhelming emptiness. In the next couple of lines, Frost seems to have forgotten all about the weeds and stubble he saw and put his attention back to the empty, snow covered surroundings. He then looks at the woods near the field and that too have been covered in snow. He also mentioned that all the animals are covered in snow in their lairs. These two lines again emphasize how Frost feels. He knows that there are live around him, yet those life are also filled with emptiness. Soon he even realized that not only the surroundings that were filled with loneliness, but Frost himself are also in it as line eight says, “The loneliness includes me unawares.”

There are several likenesses and differences in these poems. They each have their own meaning; each represent a separate thing and each tell a different story. However, they are all indicative of Frost’s love of the outdoors, his true enjoyment of nature and his wistfulness at growing old. He seems to look back at youth with a sad longing.

Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. When his father died, he moved to Massachusetts with his family to be closer to his grandparents. He loved to stay active through sports and activities such as trapping animals and climbing trees. He married his co- valedictorian, Elinor Miriam White, in 1895. He dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard in his lifetime. Robert and Elinor settled on a farm in Massachusetts which his grandfather bought him, and it was one of the many farms on which he would live in throughout his life. Frost spend the next 9 years writing poetry while poultry farming. When poultry farming didn’t work out, he went back to teaching English. He moved to England in 1912 and became friends with many people who were also in the writing business. After moving back to America in 1915, Frost bought a farm in New Hampshire and began reading his poems aloud at public

In order to understand where Robert Frost is coming from in his poetry it is important to learn about the experiences in his life. Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. His father was from