Analysis:

Robert Frost’s “Home Burial” and “The Death of a Hired Man”

Snezana Miletic
20217149
Assignment 2
Nov 13/12
ENGL 344
Bill Macnaughton In “Home Burial” and “The Death of a Hired Man,” Robert Frost uses sorrow to express the effect of death on the living. These poems show different families that are dealing with death and the ways that they refuse to romanticise grief. In “Home Burial”, a woman is unable to move on from the loss of her child, which results in the separation from her husband. In “The Death of a Hired Man,” a married couple express their different feelings toward a man who used to work for them and that had come home to die. In these poems, the husband and wife respond to death in different ways. As a result, they disagree with each other have difficulty understanding the feelings of their partner. Frost uses dialogue in “Home Burial” and “The Death of a Hired Man” to show us the way that death affects the world and the people in it. In the beginning of “Home Burial”, we see Amy coming down the stairs of her home. On her way down the stairwell she “look[s] back over her shoulder in some fear”(Frost 3) and turns away. Her husband sees her asks her what she is looking at, “What is it you see / From up there always—for I want to know” (Frost 6-7). It is clear that the wife is petrified of her husband as she is unable to look at him. She is also uncomfortable in his presence as “her face change[s] from terrified to dull” (Frost 9). The husband is “Mounting until she cowered under him” (Frost 11). In this line, we realize that the husband is controlling in the way that he stands over her. He looks strong and powerful while the wife looks weak and submissive. The wife tells him that even if he looks, he will not be able to understand what the object of her attention is. The wife “stiffening her neck(Frost 9),” does not reveal her feelings to her husband (Frost 14). From this example, we are able to recognize the tension between the couple. The wife’s refusal to answer creates a barrier between herself and her husband. As a result, they are unable to share their intimate feelings with each other. In the second section of the poem, we learn that their child had passed away. The husband looks out the window and states: “The little graveyard where my people are / So small the window frames the whole of it”(Frost 24-25). He is not able to understand his wife’s obsession with the sight of the cemetery. The husband talks about the “child’s mound” (Frost 30) and explains that he has buried his son in the family plot. He does not understand the reason that his wife is so mad at him. He tries to talk to his wife about their dead son but is only rejected with her cries, “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t”(Frost 32). The repetition expresses the grief of the wife and her ability to accept the loss of her son. She cannot stand the mention of her son’s passing and wants to run away from their house. She wants to hide from her emotions. The husband wants to help her and pleads for her to stay, “Amy! Don’t go to someone else this time / Listen to me I won’t come down the stairs” (Frost 41-42). He does not want her to find another person to talk about her sorrow. The husband tells his wife that he has difficulty talking to her: “My words are nearly always and offense / I don’t know how to speak of anything / So as to please you” (Frost 48). He begs his wife to open her heart to him, “Let me into your grief”(Frost 62). He is unable to reach his wife because he tells her that exaggerates her “ mother-loss of a first child / So inconsolably—in the face of love / You’d think his memory might be satisfied—”(Frost 67-69). The husband does not apologies to his wife but chooses to blames her grief on her sex. He does not know the right words to use to express how he really feels. The wife tells her husband,” There you go sneering now!”(Frost 70) while he answers, “I’m not, I’m not!”(Frost 71). It is clear that the wife and the husband are unable to console each other because of their anger. The feelings of the husband continue to escalate in the next few lines: “You make me angry. I’ll come down to you / God, what a woman! And it’s come to this / A man can’t speak of his own child that’s dead” (Frost 72-74). The husband is angry with his wife for not allowing him to talk about their dead son. At the same time, he wants to grieve in his own way. He wants to be free. The wife does not reveal the reasons behind her feelings because she does not believe that her husband feels the same way over the loss of their son: “You can’t because you don’t know how to speak / If you had any feelings, you that dug / With your own hand—how could you?—his little grave” (Frost 74-76). The wife tells her husband that she cannot believe that he would be so insensitive as to dig his own child’s grave. She resents him for keeping his composure: “You could sit there with the stains on your shoes / Of the fresh earth from your own baby’s grave / And talk about your everyday concerns (Frost 88-90). It is clear that grieving is less difficult for the husband then it is for the wife. The wife is unable to deal with the digging of her son’s grave. As a result, her only response is to laugh through her melancholy, “I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed” (Frost 93). Laughing will not please her. It will only cause her more pain. At the end of their confrontation, the wife shows her grief in her reflection of the world and the people in it. “You couldn’t care! The nearest friends can go With anyone to death, comes so short they mite as well not try to go at all. No, from the time when one sick to death, One is alone, and he dies more alone” (Frost 101-105). The italics in the first line tell us that the grieving of the husband is unequal to his wife. The wife compares her husband to other people in the world. She blames her husband and friends for not for not caring about death. She is angry and only looks down at him. She believes that her husband is like everyone else. She cannot trust him with her true feelings. She then tells him that everyone in the end dies alone. Therefore, the wife cannot rely on her husband for comfort, or on anyone else for that matter. She is completely alone. At the end of the speech, the wife takes her grief and throws it back at her husband. She tells him: “I won’t have grief so / If I can change it. Oh I won’t, I won’t!”(Frost 110-111). The wife not only resents her husband, but also herself. She does not want help from anyone and wants to continue to mourn the loss of her son. She does not want to change. At the end of the poem the husband tries to calm his wife in and tells her, “There, you have said it all and you feel better”(Frost 112). He believes that in talking, the wife had a chance to rid herself of all her frustrations. She tells him that talking is not enough and that she must leave the house. It is clear that she does not trust her husband because she feels the need to run away. This tells us that there is no trust between them or in their marriage. The wife tells her husband, “You—oh, you think the talk is all I must go / Somewhere out of this house. How can I make you…If –you—do !”(Frost 116-118). She opens the door to leave and he calls after her: “Where do you mean to go? First tell me that / I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!—”(Frost 119-120). The italics in the last line emphasize the stress and the anger of the husband. He loves his wife and is very concerned for her. He does not want her to leave. The threat in his response tells us that he wants to get help. He wants to express his love for his wife but he cannot find the words. He cannot make her stay, as neither is capable in understanding each other and telling each how they really feel. In the end, there is still tension between them as things are left unresolved. In the beginning of “The Death of a Hired Man”, we see Mary at home waiting for her husband to return from the market. She is “musing” (Frost 1) over telling him news that she knows will cause him turmoil. As Warren enters the house, Mary tells him about a man named Silas that has returned. Mary “drew him down” to sit with her on the porch to discuss Silas. She then tells him to “be kind” (Frost 7). It is apparent from the way that she sat down with him to talk about Silas that Mary is a patient person. As the poem continues to progress, Warren tells Mary, “When was I ever anything but kind to him ? But I’ll not have the fellow back “(Frost 11-12). He asks her “What good is he?”(Frost 14) now that he is old and useless to them. Warren is distrustful of Silas because he left them before. He cannot pay Silas the wage that he requires. We see that Warren does not care for Silas as he shows no compassion towards the old man. Mary does not feel the same way and speaks up for Silas. She tells Warren that he is poor man that does not want to “beg and beholden”(Frost 21). Mary feels piety for Silas and tells Warren that he must hire him. Warren does not want to listen to her and is angry at Silas for being there at “haying, when any help is scarse” (Frost 29), and only returning in the wintertime. He does not return her sentiment and continues to blame him. He tells her that he is “done” with Silas. Mary then tries to earn his sympathy and describes Silas as being “huddled against the barn-door fast asleep – a miserable sight, and frightening too” (Frost 35-36). In the second section of the poem, Mary does not understand Warren’s feelings and tells him, “Surely you wouldn’t grudge the poor old man / Some humble way to save his self-respect”(Frost 52-53). She continues to try to change his mind about Silas. Mary tells him that Silas “meant to clear the pasture”(Frost 55). Silas wants to go back and finish what he started. He wants to achieve something before he dies. Mary then tells Warren about the problems that Silas had with Harold Wilson. Silas used to argue with Harold over education when they worked together on the farm. Warren tells Mary that he does not care, “Yes, I took care to keep well out of earshot (Frost 73)”. Silas is unable to move on from the past as “he still keeps finding / Good arguments he sees he might have used” (Frost 78-70). Mary shows her sympathy when she tells him, “ I know just how it feels / To think of the right thing to say too late” (Frost 79-80). It is clear that Mary is trying to send a message to her husband. She wants Warren to realize that Silas does not have much time left before he dies. She wants to change his mind but hopes that he will learn this on his own. In the third section of the poem, Mary tells Warren about Silas’s “wish to “have another chance / To teach him how to build a load of hay”(Frost 89-90). This is the only thing that he does well. He works hard as “he bundles every forkful in its place” (Frost 92) and “You never see him standing on the hay / He’s trying to life, straining to lift himself” (Frost 97-98). This is his “one accomplishment” (Frost 91). Mary uses work as a way to create sympathy for Silas. She tells Warren that Silas is good at what he does and that it is important to him. In doing so, Mary hints that Silas is important as well. She wants Warren to feel for “Poor Silas”(Frost 102) as he has “nothing to look backward with pride / And nothing to look forward to with hope”(Frost 104-105). Mary tries to make Silas look useful in her attempt to make Warren care about the old man. Near the end of the third section of the poem, Mary tells Warren that Silas “has come home to die” (Frost 114). Mary and Warren then talk about the meaning of “home”. Mary tells him “it all depends on what you mean by home” (Frost 118) while Warren tells her that home is “the place where, when you have to go there / They have to take you in” (Frost 123). In this example, we realize that Warren and Mary do not agree with each other on the meaning of “home.” Mary rejects him in her response: “I should have called it / Something you somehow haven’t to deserve” (Frost 124-125). Mary believes that Warren does not “deserve” to call home. This is because he refuses to let Silas stay with them. Warren does not welcome him back, even if he knows this is what Silas wants. There is no meaning of “home” for Warren, as he does not give the same courtesy to Silas. Mary then tells him of Silas’s rich brother that lives thirteen miles down the road. Warren is upset that Silas cannot go to his brother and ask for help; “He ought of right / To take him in, and might be willing to” (Frost 139). Mary tells Warren that Silas cannot turn to his brother because there is some misunderstanding between them. She also tells him that his “pride” gets in the way. She tells Warren to “have some piety on Silas”(Frost 141) because he cannot rely on his family for help in his time of need. It is clear that Mary uses this situation as a way to manipulate Warren. She wants Warren to feel guilty because he does not want to help Silas. She tries to make Silas look as sad as possible: “He don’t know why he isn’t quiet as good / As anybody. Worthless though he is / He won’t be made ashamed to please his brother”(Frost 150-152). She wants Warren to think that Silas has no one and that he is all alone in the world. Most of all, she wants him to have a change of heart. In the fourth section of the poem, Warren changes his mind about Silas. We see his compassion when he tells Mary, “I can’t think Si ever hurt anyone” (Frost 153). Warren is finally able to see him as a caring and dying worker. In addressing him as “Si” rather then by whole name “Silas,” we can see that Silas is important to him. He is not worthless anymore. He is a human being. Mary urges Warren to go see Silas for himself as “he’s broken / His working days are done” (Frost 159-160). She tells him not to laugh at his plans to work again. Warren returns to Mary and tells her that Silas is “Dead”(Frost 175). This single word explains the separation between Mary and Warren and their understanding of each other at the end of the poem. The conflict between them ends and they finally come to an agreement about Silas. Most importantly, they are able to come together in the moment when they need each other the most. In the end, the wife and the husband in “Home Burial” are unable to communicate with each other as compared to Mary and Warren in “The Death of a Hired Man.” In “Home Burial”, the wife is unable to accept the loss of her son and refuses to talk about her feelings with her husband. The husband is angry and frustrated at his wife and is in denial over the death of their son. They are unable to console each other because they cannot find the right words to express how they really feel. They grieve in isolation as the husband digs his son’s grave while the wife leaves the house. The husband and wife live in fear and guilt over the loss of their son and the distance between them remains. In “The Death of a Hired Man” Mary and Warren, face death together. This is because they talk openly about their feelings toward Silas. Warren is not open to his return and wants to blame Silas for everything. This is because Warren does not have the sympathy and the understanding that Mary has. In the end, her compassion makes Warren change his mind about Silas. Warren is finally able to see him as a human being and accept him into his heart. Frost uses the families in these poems to show us the way that death can separate us or bring us back together. Most importantly, they are a reflection of who we are as individuals in our ability to accept death as it falls upon us.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. “Home Burial.” Book of Readings. English 344 Extended U of Waterloo, 2012: 1395-1398

Frost, Robert. “The Death of a Hired Man.” Book of Readings. English 344 Extended U

of Waterloo, 2012: 1391-1395