Using a close analysis of 3 or 4 poems in this collection, write an essay on how Frost uses ‘the sound of sense’ in his poetry to convey both the difficulties and the worth of ordinary life.

Jenna Leonard

Robert Frost Essay

In your answer, you should:

· Look closely at the effects created by diction, syntax and register in creating the dramatic and emotional tones of the poems

· Discuss the effects created by Frost’s handling of poetic form

· Set out clearly your view of the importance of this technique in communicating the meanings of the poems.

Robert Frost uses ‘the sound of sense’ in ‘Out, Out’ to create the feeling of repetitive, boring work, through diction, words, such as the repetition of ‘snarled’ and ‘rattled’. It also conveys a love of physical labour and also a peace, with the use of the word ‘breeze’, which has connotations of a light and airy atmosphere, which makes the workplace seem almost heavenly. The diction also has connotations of death and the desire to die,’ day was all but done’ and ‘ Call it a day, I wish they might have said’. The syntax in this is unusual because to make sense it would have to say, ‘I wish they said to call it a day’. This gives the tone a much more colloquial feeling. This is supported by the Germanic diction, for example, ‘supper’, ‘wood’, ‘boy’. The tone is low and mournful as if the narrator is looking back on the situation as if it happened some time ago, but also as if it is an everyday event, this is shown by the narrator’s stoicism, ‘So. But the hand was gone already’. This line also shows the colloquial syntax, also it reassures the fact that this is an American poem, as the use if already at the end of the sentence is used in American grammar. The diction and tone used in ‘Home Burial’ are very different to ‘Out, Out’. ‘Home Burial’ is written in a way so that a reader has no choice but to read the poem aloud in a heightened tone, take for example these two lines from ‘Home Burial’ and ‘Out, Out’,

‘Don’t, don’t, don’t,

don’t,’ she cried.’

‘ The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,’

The line from ‘Home Burial’ makes use of monosyllabic lexis which makes it punchier and sharp, therefore creating a sense of panic, whereas in the line from ‘Out, Out’ more multisyllabic lexis is used which gives a feeling of calm and control, this also adds to the stoicism. ‘Home Burial’ also uses Germanic lexis, such as, ‘stairs’, ‘stones’, neck’. ‘Home Burial’ also mimics the natural irregularity of speech, which also goes over the metre of the poem, therefore creating a more natural feeling,’ ...

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‘Don’t, don’t, don’t,

don’t,’ she cried.’

‘ The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,’

You don’t,’ she challenged. ‘Tell me what it is.’

There is also a restricted code of natural speech reflected in this poem and also in ‘ The Road Not Taken’. The words used in this poem, are similarly Germanic, ‘roads’, ‘wood’, and also monosyllabic, ‘bent’, ‘black’, ‘woods’.

The poetic form used in ‘Out, Out’ is a narrative in blank verse written in a continuous structure (No stanzas, no breaks). Narrative poetry tells a story revealed by a progression unique to itself. There is a rising action, a climax and a falling action. This from allows Frost to create a situation that appears, not only to be like a day in the life of the narrator, but also allows him to create the feeling of this being something that happens all the time, and that it is not a significant event in the day. It also uses blank verse, which is unrhymed iambic pentameter, this form allows him to slip over the meter to create the feeling of a natural trail of thought, ‘ And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled’.

The form of ‘Home Burial’ is very different to ‘Out, Out’ as it uses Dramatic form, and in dramatic form poems have speaking characters as in a play. This poem has two characters. ‘Home Burial’ could be called a dramatic narrative. This poem is mainly done in the form of speech, which gives the illusion of natural and honest thought, ‘Just that I see.’

In ‘The Road Not Taken’, Frost uses stanzaic from, in the form of five lines, or quintets, which Frost only uses occasionally. It has an unusually taught verse form of nine syllable lines, rhyming ABAAB, which contrasts with the casual tone,’ perhaps the better claim’, ‘really about the same’, I doubted if I should ever come back’. This creates a feeling of personal conflict.

In ‘Out, Out’ Frost uses metonymy, which is A figure of speech which uses a concept closely related to the thing actually meant. The substitution makes the analogy more vivid and meaningful. In ‘Out, Out’ the injured boy holds up his hand "as if to keep / the life from spilling." The literal meaning is to keep the blood from spilling. Frost's line tells us that the hand is bleeding and the boy's life is in danger. This gives an almost human feeling- as if death is imminent. Frost also uses olfactory imagery in ‘Out, Out’ to create the illusion of the smell of the wood, which puts the reader in the same situation as the narrator, ‘sweet scented stuff’. In ‘Home Burial’ Frost uses the sound of sense only, ‘Don't, don't, don't, don't,’ she cried.’ ’I’m not, I'm not’. All those emotions come through the words - the terror, fear, anger, denial, and anger again. The voice inevitably builds those emotions into the words. There is no way to read ‘Home Burial’ in a flat voice.

In ‘The Road Not Taken’ Frost uses verbal irony- the speaker knows he will tell the old story ‘with a sigh’ of a choice that ‘made all the difference.’ The uses of a sigh brings the story alive, it’s almost as if the reader is experiencing the situation for themselves. Frost also makes use of symbol; the forked road represents choices in life. This also adds to the effect of putting the reader in the situation.

In conclusion Frost uses the’ sound of sense’ in many ways, and in many different forms. He uses completely different styles of poetry in all three of the poems I have analysed; yet he still manages to use the sound of sense consistently.