Frost, Nature and the Human Spirit
A pristine emerald pasture sits gently nestled in a high valley between the jagged snow covered mountains which dutifully stand guard over it. Overhead, the aqua-blue sky sheds beams of warm, golden sunlight as light wispy clouds gently float by. A gentle breeze wafts through the valley, carrying with it the sweet smell of lilac, honeysuckle and the fresh, sharp scent of pine trees. The high pitched screech of lone hawk riding the wind in search of prey can be heard in the distance. A babbling brook trickles and bubbles nearby as an elderly gentleman sits comfortably on a fallen birch tree looking out at the scene. The man sits like a statue, never moving, lost in some sort of dream induced paralysis. The man is drinking in the splendor in order to quench his never-ending thirst for nature. He realizes that life can be no better than at that precise moment. The scene is purely fictional, but one could very well imagine Robert Frost being this gentleman, at one with nature, contemplating life and the human spirit. Was Robert Frost a lover of nature? This question has been one that has been argued for many years. Many critics like James Cox, argue that Frost actually "hated nature and that he has just been misunderstood
After seeing the doe they say to one another "[t]his, then, is all, [w]hat more is there to ask?" (25). As if to answer the question, a buck appears and it is clear that there is nothing more, [t]his must be all, it was all, still they stood" (39). The couple continues to stand there as if stunned by the realization and Frost makes it perfectly clear in the poem how he feels about the earth and nature.....he cherishes both. Frost goes on to show that the two travelers are able to see that the "earth returned their love" (42). In this poem, Frost makes it hard to pick out who is actually being observed and who is doing the observing. In doing so, he is shows that not only can humans look upon nature, but nature is able to look upon humans in the same curious and questioning way. The moment in time when the couple and the deer are staring at each other is "not all that life is about, but it is enough to make one enjoy life that much more" (Gerber 157). Frost has exceptional ways of combining humans and nature together in order to tell a story. The face-to-face scene with the dear is perfect example of what a nature lover Frost really is. And on a day we meet to walk the line Elaine Barry states in "Frost" that "the building of the wall joins the two men to work together as one and the neighbor does not care what tears the wall down, he just knows that it has to be repaired to keep their properties separate" (Barry 95). Frost shows that nature can be kind as well as dangerous and illustrates that even nature's destruction of man-made objects has a purpose in the grand scheme of life. Until he took the stiffness out of them, In Frost's view, "a simple communication with nature can lead us to the many answers of life's questions" (Meyers 132). Frost also believes that "humans have an undying question of whether or not nature loves and needs them as much as they love and need nature" (qtd. Meyers 212). In Frost's poem "Two Look at Two" this question is answered. The poem illustrates that when the couple discovers the deer looking back at them, they fully understand all of nature's intent (Lynen 33). The man and woman are on a walk through the woods when they decide to turn back, unknowing that they will come face to face with a doe and one of nature's wonderful surprises. Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, The nei
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Approximate Word count = 1615
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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