The Mysterious Bending of Trees

A detailed Summary of The Mysterious Bending of Trees


"Birches," by Robert Frost, is an archetypical example of a Frost poem. Frost's poems are normally characterized by beautifully evocative descriptions of nature that form a very clear picture in the reader's mind. On first reading, many of his poems seem to be just a portrayal of events that occur in nature. However, there is normally another deeper meaning to the poem, mostly relating to the human condition. "Birches" seems at first reading to be a description of how a line of birch trees becomes bent and bowed due to natures intervention, and then describes how Frost would rather have the trees becoming bent due to a little boy playing on them. Looking deeper into the meaning of the poem, Frost seems to be praising the resilience of the birch trees and also he describes how the young boy learns to amuse himself while he grows up.

The first part of the poem describes what has actually happened to the trees, how they look and what caused the current bent over appe


In the last part of the poem, Frost reminisces about his own childhood, when he too was a "swinger of birches." When he is tired of life's tribulations he looks back o and yearns for the days when he would also play among the trees and enjoy himself. Frost seems to almost want to return to his youth, but asks that fate not take his request seriously, as deep down he would prefer to stay where he is in life. He would like to climb the trees again though, climb towards heaven and then fall down again, which would seem to be a satisfying way for him to pass the time.

This poem is set in the countryside, much like where Frost grew up, so it is especially significant in providing the reader with a private picture into the poet's childhood and how he matured. The poem has a cheerful tone throughout, first beautifully describing the birch trees then looking at a young boy playing amongst them. In this poem Frost makes use of his "fooling" to provide the reader with a desc

Some common words found in the essay are:
Robert Frost, birch trees, poem frost, birch trees bent, deeper meaning poem, boy living farm, trees bent, meaning poem, living farm, boy playing, boy living, deeper meaning,

Approximate Word count = 660
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

join now Save Paper

Related Essays

  • childhood preservation ... Frost uses the image of a young boy who is so mysterious, he is able to ... Just like in the line, heamp39d rather picture young boy bending the trees then the ... 1329 words


Saved Paper

Save your papers so you can locate them quickly!

Newest Essays

Testimonials

  • "Thank You So Much!!! You have saved me once again!!!"
    Jack M.
  • "With so many papers to chose from, I was able to get ideas to help me with all of my classes. Thank You!"
    Brian P.
  • "I've used this site for the last 3 years to help me come up with ideas for my papers."
    Sara J.
  • "I use this site every week to help me write my own papers!"
    Rachel W.
  • "I love this site!!!"
    Marie N.
Home Join Now Support
Acceptable Use Policy About us FAQ
All papers are for research and reference purposes only!
© 2002-2009 DirectEssays.com. All Rights Reserved.