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 and nature’s unity in coexistence holds a tension that is driven by the back and forth of a psychological need to change. The wood pile bears witness to both its creator and on the other end of the spectrum, the force of nature which is an active participant in the demise of the usefulness of the woodpile to man. Nature’s propensity is to overtake what man has done to it.

Man is hindered by his own perception of death. Man’s inability to separate death from usefulness is compared to nature’s benign acceptance of all that comes to it. Frost’s exposes this conflict in lines 39 and 40 where he writes in relation to a cord of wood, “to warm the frozen swamp as best it could / With the slow smokeless burning of decay.”. Frost utilises visual imagery to communicate that the smokeless ‘fire’ is apart from man in it’s natural phenomena. The paradoxical situation that is created by way of falsifying a true fire in the reader’s mind emphasises the inert woodpiles elemental usefulness. The perception of usefulness created by man is the ultimate folly of their existence.

The speaker's self imposed delusion regarding the bird’s self perceived role as prey supports the idea that man creates his own limitations. Such limitations are described by Frost in lines 22 and 23 as the deftest aspect of nature coexists with the static measured pile. He writes, “He went behind it to make his last stand / It was a cord of maple, cut and split”. Frost creates a clear and physical divide between man and nature with the visual imagery of the disappearance of the bird behind the pile. This ironic divide is symbolic of the limitations of man’s reality. The man who uses nature for himself creates the gap between humankind and the environment. The woodpile is the physicalization of this concept as it stands for what humankind has used, and forgotten about. It’s lack of use led to it being deemed no longer beneficial for man as it began to decay. This selfish lack of awareness is the dividing factor between man and nature. Nature, being the bird, uses this symbolic pile to protect itself because ultimately it is the one true thing that man is unable to overcome.

Man’s limitations were highlighted in this piece as Frost explored themes of death and nature and their coexistence as far as this one speaker was concerned. The use of visual imagery was pivotal in the deeper understanding of these ideas as it supported a mirror image of the concepts. An image of two combating forces pulling away, interconnecting, and coming together to symbolise death, nature, and limitations.