...I’m sitting in an ice cave shivering, wondering how best to explain the awkward situation I’m in. I tried to explain earlier this morning while the demons wracked my camp that I was not in fact a relative of the Marquise of the Crystal Crown. She had recently inherited her late father’s title (a none too suspicious death, if you ask me). Those who were her potential successors began to disappear. Perhaps she thought that her relatives with a better moral compass would try to usurp her throne, ending her malicious reign before it began. Her relation and practice with Glacier Fiends was no secret, after all. This is where I come in. I recently changed my appearance with a glamour, my hair to a luminescent silver, my eyes a brilliant sapphire. Making me look far too similar to the Marquise’s younger cousin, who probably disappeared herself after learning about the fate of the rest of her family. The guards didn’t notice that my hair and eyes changed back to their natural colour when I entered the cell, the bars being layered with an anti-magic binding. I’ve been here for about an hour and have done nothing but think of multiple escape plans – not from this room, of course. I realized upon passing the bars that any escape attempt from here would be fruitless. Making concrete plans is difficult when I do not know where I’ll be taken when they let me out. And I figure they’ll let me out eventually because won’t they want information on “my” relatives that are still alive? I’m hoping...
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... Robert Frost’s influences that made him the honored American poet of the 20th century Robert Frost’s influences that made him the honored American poet of the 20th century Robert Frost was the most widely admired and highly honored American poet of the 20th century. His occurrences throughout his life inspired his poetry, most of which were inspired by his own life story. For that reason many of Frost’s poems have the same or similar topics to what Frost was dealing with in his life. Robert Frost’s main influences for his poetry came from his experiences in life. He used his relationships, nature, and the religion that surrounded him to create the poems that have made him the recognized poet that he is today. Robert Frost had many important relationships throughout his life that affected many of his choices as well as his poetry. In several of his relationships he suffered devastating losses including the death of his father, his mother, his sister, two of his children, and his wife. The loss of each of these important relationships influenced his career and affected poetry in a different way. Robert Frost’s relationship with his father, William Frost Jr., impacted Frost’s life which in result affected his poetry. Frost’s father was a journalist and a teacher that moved his family out to San Francisco to earn his fortune as a journalist (Poirier and Richardson). His dreams of becoming wealthy didn’t...
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...Robert Frost is known as one of America’s great poets, with this known he still has a dark side and somewhat terrifying side to his poems as well. Erin Brescia states “One of the reasons Robert’s Frost poetry is enjoyed is his ability to capture the reality of everyday living in a language that is accessible to the average reader” and that his poems are just everyday people doing everyday things, such as jobs, chores and work. I have read many of Frosts poems and agree this is true, but with this fact some of his poems pertaining to jobs have a very dark outcome. Erin cites the poem “Putting in the seed” explaining how the narrator loves planting apple seeds and knows someone will soon get him for dinner and try to stop him, but will probably in the end will also take pleasure in planting seeds. Also cited is “The Pasture” where Erin States “the narrator has a list of chores that must be accomplished” like raking leaves and checking on a calf. These poems deal with regular people and everyday life, which is one of the themes in Frost work. Frost has other poems that deal with just everyday life such as “The Road Not Taken”, this poem is about a man who comes to a fork in the path and decides to take the path that is less traveled, but as he does, thinks about the other path and what gifts it may hold, and how in the future he may be able to come back and take that other path. Again another poem about everyday life, while this poem does not fit with many themes of jobs...
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..."Nature's first green is gold" ......................Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost Frost's poem contains the perfect image of Vermont's spring landscape. The hardwoods lose their leaves in autumn and stay bare through the winter. In spring, the first green to appear is really gold as the buds break open. The willows and maples have this temporary gold hue. In only a few days, the leaves mature to green. Figurative Language Figurative language uses "figures of speech" - a way of saying something other than the literal meaning of the words. For example, "All the world's a stage" Frost often referred to them simply as "figures." Frost said, "Every poem I write is figurative in two senses. It will have figures in it, of course; but it's also a figure in itself - a figure for something, and it's made so that you can get more than one figure out of it." Cook Voices p235 Metaphor A figure of speech in which a comparison is made between two things essentially unalike. To Frost, metaphor is really what poetry is all about. He is notably a poet of metaphors more than anything else. This is so important, we should hear directly from the poet. Frost said," Poetry begins in trivial metaphors, pretty metaphors, 'grace metaphors,' and goes on to the profoundest thinking that we have. Poetry provides the one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another. People say, 'Why don't you say what you mean?' We never do that, do we, being all of us too much poets. We like...
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...literary pieces. In Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, and Jean Rhys’ short story “I Used to Live Here Once”, the consistent theme between the two would be; no matter who you are, you are the only one who chooses the road you take for your life’s journey. In other words, you choose your own destiny. And although they took different ways to say it, both Rhys and Frost use imagery, tone, and symbolism frequently to enhance the telling of their literary works. There are many people who travel a distance in life to find the path they should take or to remember the path they once took. In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, and the short story "I Used to Live Here Once", there are many similarities and differences. The authors’ use of describing a path helps them personify life’s journeys and self-reflection. Robert Frost uses imagery to describe two different journeys in life that could have been taken. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth.” (Clugston, 2010) As Frost writes in this first paragraph, he expresses the two journeys as a road diverged in a yellow...
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...influential. Robert Frost talks about death but if the world ended, how would an individual want to die. Would an individual rather die by burning to death or being frozen to death? Gwendolyn Brooks’ poem is about a group of young black men who have no potential or future. All in all these poems have a vivid sense of imagery, an inspirational theme, and an odd rhyme scheme and meter. Although these two poems have two completely different subjects, they make you think and actually begin to questions certain aspects of life. In Brooks’ she sets the scene along with her characters and setting before even starting the poem. She lets know the characters are seven pool players, at the Golden Shovel. The Golden Shovel is a metaphor for these teenagers digging their own grave, when they’re supposed to be having fun, because they’re in their golden years. In lines 2-4 of her poem she talks about how the teenagers dropped out of school, stay out late, and that they commit crimes head on. This is a great example of imagery, because one can easily imagine young African-American kids not having anything to do after they dropped out of school and start to do illegal things. Therefore Brooks’ gave a great name for the setting, the Golden Shovel because these teenagers are literally digging their own grave. Nothing good can happen if a group of teenagers are out late, thinning gin, and striking straight. In Frost’s poem uses fire and ice as words to describe religious views. Frost uses ice for hatred...
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...Nothing Gold Can Stay (Frost) VS. I Used to Live Here Once (Rhys) Jason W. Miller Ashford University ENG125: Introduction to Literature Professor Patricia Lake December 3, 2012 Death and impermanence is always full of sorrow. I have chosen Death and Impermanence as my theme to discuss, not because of tragedy I’ve experienced, but instead because it’s an interestingly complex theme. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “I Used to Live Here Once” could not be no more different in their visual form than they already are; however, they both represent the theme through common emotions and mood of the literary works. Throughout my essay I will explain the relevance of the two works, and authors, as well as the differences. The formalist approach will be my choice of critical analysis of the two works, which will aid in forming my comparison and contrast of both works as well. “The poem of the Robert Frost, “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is discussing the beauty of life’s wonderful but short-lived treasures, as example chasing dreams and spending time with loved ones. It is illustrated by Frost those treasures in the world related to the nature through the use of metaphors, imagery, diction, and allusion. The poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” helps open one’s eyes to the harsh realities of nature’s path and although we must all succumb to the laws of nature, it is these unbreakable laws that make life so treasured (Shmoop, 2010). On the other side the literature “I Used to Live Here...
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...Robert Frost, a great literary writer found a way to use nature as a tool to express human experiences. Throughout the course of his life he has inspired writers and created a new view on how we as humans view nature and the world around us. Robert Frost has been known to be a complicated poet because he did not focus so much on weather a line rhymed. Frost wrote deliberately to paint a picture or create a story for his readers. He wrote with care to express what he was truly feeling. Most of his poems are written with undertones that would require the reader to look deeper into what was written. When most poems are examined more in depth Frost becomes much more complex, showing that there is a deeper and sometimes darker undertone to the engaging words of the poems. Frost had experienced pain and tragedy, with many deaths of family members, during his life. He finds that his suffering makes the thought of death both fascinating and tempting. Frost considers death but has decided to pursue life and the choices that one faces along life’s paths. Frost uses his greatest inspiration, nature, to tell stories of happiness, tragedy and pain. Nature is the one thing that remains constant. It continues to flow and carry on through good and bad. I feel that Frost noticed this and found a way to connect and mimic nature’s process: the circle of life. In nature this includes life and death. After the cycle of death, nature creates anew and continues to blossom and bloom. ...
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...The Attraction of Woods on a Snowy Evening In Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, we follow what appears to be the traveler’s short journey through a beautiful snowy landscape. Words such as peaceful and serene come to mind. During the first few lines of this poem it seems as if this traveler has found an idyllic setting. However, upon closer examination, we have to ask the question of why this traveler has picked “the darkest evening of the year…to stop without a farmhouse near.” Does this traveler have other things on his mind beyond admiring the scenery? Let’s step into the setting of this poem and see what intentions this weary traveler had. Beginning with the title, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” the reader already knows that the traveler is stopping to admire the falling snow in this wintery land. Sounds pleasing enough, yet the very first line alerts the reader to the fact that the traveler is somewhat cognizant as to who’s woods he is journeying through. He goes onto mention that the owner of the woods won’t know he is there since the owner lives in the village. This seems to give some indication that maybe there is more going on in this traveler’s mind. Almost a hint that he is either trespassing on this land or maybe he just doesn’t want anyone to know what he is up to. The fourth line of this poem, “To watch his woods fill up with snow”, seems to be a turning point where the reader is taken from this idyllic setting to almost...
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...The Darkness in the life of Robert Frost 03 Aug 2012 Robert frost is one of the most well-known and enticing poets of the 20th century. His poems were full of metaphors, similes, symbolism, and onomatopoeias. He was a very descriptive and egocentric writer whose work is usually known for being rooted in realism with some dark undertones. What makes Robert frost’s works seem so dark? In this paper I will analyze his poetry, which may provides the answer to what made Robert frost one of the greatest, yet darkest poets in the 20th century. Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, nine years after the end of the civil war. After the death of his father in 1885, the family moved to New England, where Robert would grow up spend the rest of his life. He was not a good student, but he took easily to writing. In high school, he graduated as Co-valedictorian with his future wife, Elinor Miriam White. After high school, Frost attended Dartmouth college and held many different odd jobs before he becoming a teacher. Most of Robert frost’s poetry was based in his native New England. He was a realist, which meant that most or all of his poems dealt within the real world. He was more of a traditional writer, although most of his poems are free verse. His poems focused on how or what man was thinking. Much of his poetry included features of the New England landscape. This type of writing was carefully tied together to create not only the surface of the...
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...Robert Frost’s “Fire and Ice” In 1923, prolific poet Robert Frost wrote the poem entitled, “Fire and Ice”, which was his way of deciphering which way the world would end and cease to exist. He pondered through two solutions: fire and ice, which are two extremes on a spectrum. Through many of Robert Frost’s works, he discusses the existence of life and man’s response to life and nature that surrounds it, which is no surprise that he would focus his attention to the demise of the world. Frost’s unique use of imagery in “Fire and Ice,” brings this short poem to life as he gives us, as readers, a look into his thoughts of the fate of the world. As you read the title of the poem, “Fire and Ice,” there are many conclusions one can come up with that they would think the poem is about. Frost’s use of imagery causes us, as readers, to be drawn in immediately. The first line of the poem tells us what Frost recalls others to say how the world will end, and then he continues to give his personal account. He begins by saying, “From what I’ve tasted of desire/I hold with those who favor fire” (4-5). These two lines seem to describe the intense passions and desires, which can consume us and cause us to be destroyed if they are unhealthy. Because of our extreme passions with desires, Frost agrees with those who believe they world will end in fire. Frost continues by discussing the viewpoints of those who believe the world will end ice. He states: ...
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...life of Robert Frost will be explained along with some of his outstanding poetry. We will discuss who he was, how Frost started in writing his poetry, and how some of his poems relate to what is happening in today's world. Robert Frost was named after the Southern General, Robert E. Lee. He was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. Because his parents were a teacher and a journalist, he was always around books. He studied literature from William Shakespeare and poems from Robert Burns and William Wordsworth. Robert excelled in many topics in school such as history, botany, Latin, and Greek. Frost also played football and graduated top of his high school class. Robert Frost started writing poems at an early age. His first poem, “La Noche Triste” was published in his high school newspaper. Frost later enrolled in an Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire. Robert Frost was not fond of the campus life so he quit college and started teaching while he was writing poetry. Frost got his first break as a poet in 1894 when the New York Magazine, “Independent” published his poem, “My Butterfly” for only 15 dollars. Robert Frost later in 1895 married his lifelong sweetheart Elinor Miriam White and had six children together. Robert Frost later entered Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and even though he left because of illness, Harvard University was one of many institutions that would later award him an honorary degree. Robert Frost had to support his...
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...American Poetry Interpretation Robert Frost, one of the most famous poets in American history, gave a whole new window to the world to view it through poetry. His poetry collection explores many different aspects of his writing. Though he was one of the finest poets in American history, his works were the subject of misinterpretation due to the figurative language used in his works. The publication of most of Frost’s successful poems occurred after he moved to New England in 1912. As a result, Frost used the scenery of New England’s surroundings, nature, and the speech of the countryside in many of his poems. Frost’s poems seem to explain the nature of living of people and seem to be self-explanatory on the surface, but his observations have an edge of skeptics and irony, which the reader discovers upon reading several of his poems. His poems are never as old-fashioned, easy or carefree as they might appear on the surface. Though Frost used the uncomplicated language of the New England countryside, the complicated and darker themes of his poems do not appear on the surface. Nature comes into play in the first live of the poem “The Road Not Taken” when Frost introduces two separate paths in the woods, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost, 1999/1916, line 1-2). He has to make a choice during his journey in the woods regarding, which path he should choose to be same and happy at the end but is not able to decide the right path...
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...Among the five authors that I have chosen they all relate themselves to the material that they write. The authors that I have chosen are, the poets, Robert Frost and Robinson Jeffers, the prose writers, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and Willa Cather, and the dramatist, Eugene O’Neil. In all of their writings they have an autobiographical nature that tells the reader about the authors own life. Without the aspects of these authors’ lives their writing could differ. This aspect of revealing ones own life through writing can be seen in Robert Frost’s poems not because he portrays his own life, but quite the opposite. It is commonly known that Robert Frost life was filled with much depression. Because of this, Robert Frost tends to dwell on the surreal beauty of nature in life. It is seen in his poems such as “The Pasture” that Robert Frost puts what has fulfilled his life in his writing. Like these other authors, Robinson Jeffers also involves his life in his poetry. Throughout his life Jeffers religious intent shows him to be a pantheist whose God is the evolving universe. In his poem “Credo” he talks about how nothing is real except but what we make it. The idea that God is in our minds, and he creates the images that makes things real. The religious background of his life affected him to write the poems of the permanence of God. Similar to Jeffers deep appreciate of God, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman has a profound value for the culture of rural New England. In her story...
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...With four pulitzer prize awards, Robert Frost, though criticised of being monothematic, has held a message that has stood the test of time. Much of his success is credited towards the blank verse style of writing, within which he addresses the basic compound and detriment of human nature, a particular poem entitled, ‘The Wood-Pile’, showcases these themes. A single story is often told by his assorted works; to consciously move away from modernized society in order to find something worth understanding. That what can be sought in nature, away from the roles or responsibilities infringed upon man while immersed in a modern society, are of more depth and personal importance than otherwise found. In ‘The Wood-Pile’, Frost uses visual imagery to explore the themes of nature, death, and limitations, showing that man is responsible for his own constraints. The concept of nature within ‘The Wood-Pile’ takes on a separate reality of the subject’s mind. The speaker is able to both influence and react to the nature within the frozen swamp and understand that nature is a separate yet equal force which is actively syncopated with humans. This concept is demonstrated in lines 32, 33, and 34, where Frost writes, “What held it though on one side was a tree / Still growing, and on one a stake and prop / These latter about to fall.” The visual imagery of the stake close to uselessness can be seen as a reflection of nature’s natural tendency to undo what man has impressed upon it. Man...
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