thesis statement about robert frost

Nature and Human Experience in the Poetry of Robert Frost

PDF Version Also Available for Download.

Description

This study seeks to demonstrate that nature provided Frost an objective background against which he could measure the validity of human experience and gain a fuller understanding of it. The experiences examined with reference to the poetry include loneliness, anxiety, sorrow, and hope. Attention is given to the influence of Frost's philosophical skepticism upon his poetry. The study reveals that Frost discovered correspondences between nature and human experience which clarified his perspective of existence. The experiences of loneliness, anxiety, and sorrow were found to relate to Frost's feeling of separation from nature and from the source of existence. The experience … continued below

Physical Description

iii, 119 leaves

Creation Information

Dixon, David C. August 1975.

This thesis is part of the collection entitled: UNT Theses and Dissertations and was provided by the UNT Libraries to the UNT Digital Library , a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries . It has been viewed 26759 times, with 196 in the last month. More information about this thesis can be viewed below.

People and organizations associated with either the creation of this thesis or its content.

• Dixon, David C.
• Smith, John T. Major Professor

Committee Members

• Painter, William E. Minor Professor
• Dickey, Imogene Bentley, 1908- Consulting Professor
• North Texas State University Place of Publication: Denton, Texas

Rights Holder

For guidance see Citations, Rights, Re-Use .

Provided By

Unt libraries.

The UNT Libraries serve the university and community by providing access to physical and online collections, fostering information literacy, supporting academic research, and much, much more.

Descriptive information to help identify this thesis. Follow the links below to find similar items on the Digital Library.

Degree Information

• Department: Graduate Studies in English
• Discipline: English
• Level: Master's
• Name: Master of Arts
• PublicationType: Master's Thesis
• Grantor: North Texas State University

This study seeks to demonstrate that nature provided Frost an objective background against which he could measure the validity of human experience and gain a fuller understanding of it. The experiences examined with reference to the poetry include loneliness, anxiety, sorrow, and hope. Attention is given to the influence of Frost's philosophical skepticism upon his poetry. The study reveals that Frost discovered correspondences between nature and human experience which clarified his perspective of existence. The experiences of loneliness, anxiety, and sorrow were found to relate to Frost's feeling of separation from nature and from the source of existence. The experience of hope was found to relate to Frost's vision of the wholeness and unity of life, a vision which derives from humanity's common source with nature.

• humanity in literature
• nature in literature
• poetry of Robert Frost

Library of Congress Subject Headings

• Emotions in literature
• Frost, Robert, 1874-1963
• Nature in literature
• Thesis or Dissertation

Unique identifying numbers for this thesis in the Digital Library or other systems.

• Accession or Local Control No : 1002773534-Dixon
• Call Number : 379 N81 no. 5026
• UNT Catalog No. : b1081470 | View in Discover
• OCLC : 1938367
• Archival Resource Key : ark:/67531/metadc663194

Collections

This thesis is part of the following collection of related materials.

UNT Theses and Dissertations

Theses and dissertations represent a wealth of scholarly and artistic content created by masters and doctoral students in the degree-seeking process. Some ETDs in this collection are restricted to use by the UNT community .

What responsibilities do I have when using this thesis?

Digital Files

• 122 image files available in multiple sizes
• 1 file (.pdf)
• Metadata API: descriptive and downloadable metadata available in other formats

Dates and time periods associated with this thesis.

Creation Date

• August 1975

Added to The UNT Digital Library

• June 24, 2015, 9:39 a.m.

Description Last Updated

• Aug. 10, 2016, 11:11 a.m.

Usage Statistics

When was this thesis last used?

Interact With This Thesis

Here are some suggestions for what to do next.

Search Inside

• or search this site for other thesis or dissertations

Start Reading

• All Formats

Citations, Rights, Re-Use

• Citing this Thesis
• Responsibilities of Use
• Licensing and Permissions
• Linking and Embedding
• Copies and Reproductions

International Image Interoperability Framework

We support the IIIF Presentation API

Print / Share

Links for robots.

Helpful links in machine-readable formats.

Archival Resource Key (ARK)

• ERC Record: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/?
• Persistence Statement: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/??

International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF)

• IIIF Manifest: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/manifest/

Metadata Formats

• UNTL Format: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/metadata.untl.xml
• DC RDF: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/metadata.dc.rdf
• DC XML: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/metadata.dc.xml
• OAI_DC : /oai/?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&identifier=info:ark/67531/metadc663194
• METS : /ark:/67531/metadc663194/metadata.mets.xml
• OpenSearch Document: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/opensearch.xml
• Thumbnail: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/thumbnail/
• Small Image: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/small/
• In-text: /ark:/67531/metadc663194/urls.txt
• Usage Stats: /stats/stats.json?ark=ark:/67531/metadc663194

Dixon, David C. Nature and Human Experience in the Poetry of Robert Frost , thesis , August 1975; Denton, Texas . ( https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc663194/ : accessed March 24, 2024 ), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu ; .

Account Menu

• Browse Repository
• Theses and Dissertations
• Atlanta University and Clark Atlanta University Theses and Dissertations

A study of humanism in selected poems of Robert Frost, 1977

• OBJ (application/pdf)

[ ] Details

Deener, Carolyn Eileen

The purpose of this thesis is to show that humanism exists in the poetry of Robert Frost. First, a brief summary of the poet's life will be given. The study includes a working definition of the term humanism. It also includes selected poems that illustrate humanistic elements. The thesis also treats Frost's reputation as a humanist. In the past, many critics and scholars have written biographical studies and have also written widely, either directly or indirectly, on the major themes of Robert Frost. However, very few studies include specific discussions of his humanism and how it is treated in his major poetry. Thus, this study aims to broaden our view of humanism as it exists in a vital group of Frost's poems. The main sources of information have been the actual poetical works of Robert Frost, but I have, of course, consulted articles and books written by other critics that were pertinent to the study I have attempted to present.

application/pdf

Master of Arts (MA)

Department of English

Higgins, Elizabeth J.

Clark Atlanta University

Georgia--Atlanta

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1977_deener_carolyn_eileen.pdf

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

• INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
• ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS
• THESES AND DISSERTATIONS
• © Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library

“Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions Essay

Fire and Ice (1920) is one of Robert Frost’s best-known poems. It metaphorically represents relationships between people, the struggle between the two extremums of human emotions, and its ability to bring the end of the world. The poem meticulously combines formal conciseness and conceptual depth. Thus, Fire and Ice is a remarkable example of the author’s skill to render a profound meaning using a minimum amount of linguistic tools.

The poem is composed of a nine-line stanza with irregular meter and rhyme pattern. The first two lines immediately establish a conflict between fire and ice as two extreme poles of the author’s worldview. Each of these elements is capable of bringing the world to an end: “Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice” (Frost 197). The narrator emphasizes the fundamental opposition between fire and ice through the use of anaphora, that is, the repetition of the phrase “Some say” at the beginning of each of two lines (Frost 197). This conceptual juxtaposition imposes the tone for the rest of the poem and has a decisive role in its metric framework.

In lines 3 and 4, the narrator compares fire to a human passion towards someone or something. The author suggests that one’s strong desires can have a destructive capacity. However, the speaker further introduces another powerful agent. In the last three lines, ice represents human hatred and cruelty. Indeed, cold reasoning also may be a disruptive force with similarly devastating outcomes for the world. Hence, the poem relies on the stylistic device of personification, which implies the endowment of inanimate objects with human traits. In such a way, Fire and Ice provides a vivid and compelling representation of abstract notions.

It is also necessary to observe that the poem’s tone is seemingly casual and relaxed. However, it discusses the serious and fundamental issues of human relationships and world order. This intention is evident in lines 5 and 6: “But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate” (Frost 197). The narrator hints that the world’s demise is inevitable, that he is ready to face it more than once. The speaker also declares that he has already experienced the ugly side of human nature. In such a manner, the poem ensures a more profound effect on its audience. The author deliberately applies a careless tone to attract the reader’s attention to this discrepancy between the form and the content.

Furthermore, the line breaks in Fire and Ice are not accidental and convey a deep meaning. As one can easily observe, the break between the first two lines demonstrates the irreconcilable antagonism between fire and ice. Indeed, these two forces cannot exist within a single space, eventually breaking the poem into pieces. This graphic rupture symbolizes the world’s breakdown as a result of the devastating struggle of human emotions.

The line breaks are also significant for the poem’s conclusion. The last two lines are the shortest ones, consisting only of three words each. This splintered architecture provides the extreme conciseness of the poem’s ending and demonstrates the speaker’s pessimistic prognosis. In other words, the last lines symbolically depict the end of the world, where everything perishes in the struggle of human ambition and hatred.

Thus, Robert Frost’s poem vividly represents human relationships and their destructive potential. The central images of fire and ice symbolize the powerful emotions of passion and hate, and the speaker emphasizes that both of them are equally dangerous and disruptive for the world around us. The narrator admonishes thoughtless obedience to one’s inherent ambitions and aspirations, since it may have tragic consequences for humanity. The formal elements in Fire and Ice effectively contribute to rendering the profound and symbolic meaning of the poem. Hence, the surface means effectively working in tandem with its thoughtful content and ensuring the author’s strong message to the audience.

Frost, Robert. The Collected Poems of Robert Frost. Chartwell Books, 2016.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 12). "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fire-and-ice-by-robert-frost-devastating-struggle-of-human-emotions/

""Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions." IvyPanda , 12 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/fire-and-ice-by-robert-frost-devastating-struggle-of-human-emotions/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '"Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions'. 12 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. ""Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions." February 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fire-and-ice-by-robert-frost-devastating-struggle-of-human-emotions/.

1. IvyPanda . ""Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions." February 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fire-and-ice-by-robert-frost-devastating-struggle-of-human-emotions/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost: Devastating Struggle of Human Emotions." February 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/fire-and-ice-by-robert-frost-devastating-struggle-of-human-emotions/.

• Importance of Clarity and Conciseness in Writing
• Conciseness in "The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• The life of Robert Frost
• Robert Frost’s Fear Poetry
• “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• Literature Studies: Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Analysis of Poet Robert Frost's Life and Writings
• Robert Frost and Walt Whitman: Poems Comparison
• “Out, Out” by Robert Frost
• Robert Frost’s Writing Style Essay
• “The Bull Calf” by I. Layton and “Tulips” by S. Plath
• Tu Fu and Jin Changxu: A Unique Style of Chinese Poetry
• "The Flowers of Evil" by Charles Baudelaire
• Allusion in Olds’s “My Son the Man” Poem
• “Ebb” Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Design Summary & Analysis by Robert Frost

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
• Poetic Devices
• Vocabulary & References
• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
• Line-by-Line Explanations

Robert Frost's "Design," first published in a 1922 anthology of American poetry, reflects on the argument that the complexity of the world proves that a supernatural creator (i.e., God) must have designed things. The speaker of stumbles across a strange sight one morning that, on one level, might indeed suggest a guiding hand bringing different elements of nature together: a white spider holding a dead white moth on top of a white flower. Finding this sight at once miraculous and grotesque, the speaker wonders what kind of higher power would "design" a world that contains such horror and suffering—if such a power exists at all. The poem was later included in Frost's Pulitzer-winning 1936 collection, A Further Range .

• Read the full text of “Design”

The Full Text of “Design”

1 I found a dimpled spider, fat and white,

2 On a white heal-all, holding up a moth

3 Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth—

4 Assorted characters of death and blight

5 Mixed ready to begin the morning right,

6 Like the ingredients of a witches' broth—

7 A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth,

8 And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

9 What had that flower to do with being white,

10 The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?

11 What brought the kindred spider to that height,

12 Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

13 What but design of darkness to appall?—

14 If design govern in a thing so small.

“Design” Summary

“design” themes.

The Role and Existence of God

• See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Design”

I found a dimpled spider, fat and white, On a white heal-all, holding up a moth Like a white piece of rigid satin cloth—

Assorted characters of death and blight Mixed ready to begin the morning right, Like the ingredients of a witches' broth—

A snow-drop spider, a flower like a froth, And dead wings carried like a paper kite.

What had that flower to do with being white, The wayside blue and innocent heal-all? What brought the kindred spider to that height, Then steered the white moth thither in the night?

Lines 13-14

What but design of darkness to appall?— If design govern in a thing so small.

“Design” Symbols

• See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Design” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

Alliteration.

• See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

End-Stopped Line

Rhetorical question, “design” vocabulary.

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Design”

Rhyme scheme, “design” speaker, “design” setting, literary and historical context of “design”, more “design” resources, external resources.

A Further Range — Check out the full collection in which "Design" appears.

The Poem Out Loud — Listen to a reading of "Design."

Frost and Religion — An interesting article exploring attitudes towards God in Frost's poetry.

Frost at Home — Watch a 1952 interview with the poet, filmed at his house in Vermont.

Frost's Biography and More Poems — Learn more about Frost's life and work via the Poetry Foundation. 

LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Frost

Acquainted with the Night

After Apple-Picking

Desert Places

Dust of Snow

Fire and Ice

Home Burial

Mending Wall

My November Guest

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

The Death of the Hired Man

The Oven Bird

The Road Not Taken

The Sound of the Trees

The Tuft of Flowers

The Wood-Pile

Everything you need for every book you read.