The poet characterises the boy to emphasise the circumstances leading to the boy’s death. The use of a narrator makes the poem more personal, almost as if the poet was there. The poet includes regular references to the boy’s young age. For example:
“Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart”
The use of the word “child” shows us just how young the boy is and how he is doing work that is better suited to a man. The boy’s immediate response to the accident was one of sadness, a “rueful laugh”. The boy knew instantly that the accident was serious enough to affect his life, “ he saw all spoiled”. I felt the poet, through the use of word choice and sentence structure, cleverly conveyed the tragic circumstances leading to the boy’s death.
The poet uses the structure of the poem to emphasise the tragic circumstances of the boy’s death. Frost develops the mood of the poem from a calm and peaceful beginning that uses the senses to convey the sleepy, relaxed atmosphere, for example
“Five mountain ranges one behind other”
is a perfect description of the surroundings using the sense of sight. The mood suddenly changes when the accident happens to one of regret, which soon turns to fear. This, once again, exemplifies the boy’s immaturity. The onlookers were shocked when they saw what had happened and were even more shocked when the boy suddenly died as a result. This is illustrated by the words,
“And then – the watcher at his pulse took fright. /No one believed”
The ending of the poem is matter of fact. Life goes back to normal for the onlookers.
The boy’s death is conveyed excellently though the use of language techniques throughout the poem. Frost uses such techniques as personification and onomatopoeia.
“The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard”
as well as the repetition of the words “snarled and rattled” emphasises the impression that the buzz saw was ferocious and dangerous. As the poem progresses the poet repeats keywords such as “hand”. This emphasises the fact that the boy’s hand was lost. Our attention is drawn to this because the poet uses repetition.
“But as if to keep/The life from spilling”
is ambiguous because not only does the boy hold up his hand to stop the blood from gushing but, also does it to try and save his hand and effectively his livelihood. The poet uses short sentences to build up a crescendo before the suddenness of the boy’s death.
“Little-less-nothing;- and that ended it”
The use of the “Little-less-nothing” exemplifies the fact that the boys life was fading away, his heart got slower and slower until it stopped. The words,
“No more to build on there”
are significant because they emphasise the fact that it is a young life cut short, and the boy will never fulfil his potential now.
I felt the poet conveyed the tragic circumstances leading to the boy’s death excellently using characterisation, structure and language techniques. I found it sad and strange that the fellow workers just resumed their usual work even though a young boy’s life has just been lost. I enjoyed the poem and found it very thought provoking.
