On The Philosophical Characteristics Of Robert Frost’s Poems

Robert Frost, whose poetry is always a delightful experience to read，is one of themost beloved and the most greatest American poets in the20thcentury. His poems, mostof which are set in the local landscape in New England, are brimming with strong ruralflavor and idyllic tastes. Therefore, Frost is always honored as “New England poet” and“American national poet”. Due to the modulating sound in his poetic lines, together withhis kind and warm-hearted appearance, Frost is regarded in his later years as “unofficialpoet laureate” by the American common ordinary people. More significantly, He not onlyinherits the traditional poetic writing technique, but also makes some innovations on thatbasis, thus he develops his own poetic style and interests. That’s why Frost is regarded asa bridge connecting the traditional and modern poems.“I had a lover’s quarrel with theworld”, which is one of Frost’s favorite poetic lines. It shows that Frost takes a bitter andpassionate attitude towards the world. He sometimes protests against his tragic lifeexperiences, but sometimes describes the mystery, divinity and loveliness of nature.Frost’s poems describe elaborately New England rural life and voice his lover’s attitudetowards the troublesome world. The thesis aims to further broaden the sphere of theresearch about Robert Frost on the basis of domestic and foreign research. It constitutesthree parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. Among others, the main body ismade up of three chapters.In the part of Introduction, the background of the poet and the issues that Frost’spoems are mainly concerned about are briefly presented. Furthermore, the general reviewof the domestic and foreign research about Robert Frost is indicated objectively. It alsobriefly discusses the distinctive feature of the thesis, together with the practicalsignificance the thesis hopes to deliver.Chapter Ⅰis made up three parts, which explores the theoretical basis of thephilosophical characteristics in Frost’s poems from the point of Emerson’stranscendentalism. It is composed of transcendental view on nature, transcendental poeticprinciples and transcendental aesthetics. Therefore, it is essential to understandEmerson’s influence upon Frost, which is a precondition to perceive the complexity ofFrost’s poems. According to Robert Frost, nature can be classified as “visible nature” and “invisible nature”. And the latter refers to the spiritual world of human beings. In termsof Emerson’s word choosing and understanding about freedom in the poems, Frost isdeeply affected by him. It is justifiable to say that Frost is the firm follower of Emerson’stranscendentalism.Chapter Ⅱ explores the characteristics of antagonism and unity in Frost’s poemsfrom the perspective of poetic theme. It consists of three parts. Antagonism and unitybetween man and nature, man and man, man and society are systematically discussed inthis chapter. Firstly, the relationship between man and nature has always been the focusof Frost’s poems. Without man, nature is barren. Frost usually takes the rural landscape inNew England and rural life there as his poetic subjects. Frost once said in a letter that anypoem is the most valuable for its ulterior meaning. On the surface, Frost seems to be alyric poet. However, under the cover of beautiful and charming natural view is theconflict between man and nature. His poems usually deliver the profound implications indisguised ways. Generally speaking, the nature that Frost has described in his poems ischarming and desolate, because the bleak natural view can best mirror the state mind ofthe poet, which can lead the readers to deep contemplation. Man can not survive withoutnature which provides everything that human need. So nature and human beings aremutually beneficial. As we know, Frost experienced various misfortunes and sufferings inhis whole life time. It is nature that enables Frost to head on instead of giving up forliving. What Frost’s greatness depends on the fact that he is skillful in employing thetrivial subjects in nature to describe his inner feelings, so that abstruse meanings can beclearly conveyed to his readers. The desolate nature that Frost describes is the best wayto reflect his inner sadness and emotion. On the one hand, nature is lovely and charmingin his poems; on the other hand, nature is awful and terrifying. It is nature that gives himconfidence and courage to live over the rest of his life. Then, the second part in thischapter discusses the relationship between man and man living in modern period.“Goodfences make good neighbors” has become famous sayings from Robert Frost, whichreflects the present relationship between human beings.“Wall” not only serves to be avisible barrier, but also invisible obstacle for the mutual understanding between humanbeings, which is the vivid description of the present living situation of modern people.Between man and man, there is an invisible wall separating them from each other. People in reality can not find reasons to communicate, and they refuse to understand each other.Individual powerlessness and hopelessness becomes part of people experiences. Thereare no sincere talks between modern people. The greetings that there is no kindness insociety are very commonplace. This part vividly mirrors the realistic relationshipbetween people. After that, the thesis focuses on the discussion of the relationshipbetween man and society. Society is the constitution of each individual and it is humanbeings who create the society; however, man has to bear this or that social and familyresponsibility. Thus it also influences the emotional world of human beings. Under thebooming industry and material prosperity, there was a sense of uneasiness andrestlessness underneath. The society was brimming with fear, loss, disorientation anddisillusionment. The characters in Frost’s poems tend to get away from society but returnto reality in the end. They often live in a world full of pleasure and confusion, wonderingbetween dreams and reality. Frost is expert at delivering the confused state of mind frommodern people in the course of depicting nature.Chapter Ⅲ focuses on the discussion of the relationship between the poem’s formand theme. That is, antagonism and unity between form and poetic theme. This part iscomposed of three parts: sound of sense, metaphor and theme, symbol and theme. Firstly,according to Robert Frost, poem is not merely composed by words to conveyimplications, because language itself is a sound, which can deliver feelings and thespeaker’s emotions. Robert Frost advocates the usage of simple and commonly-usedordinary speech to write poems, thus to deliver the poetic theme. The musical words are amatter of harmonized vowels and consonants.“Sound of sense” suggests that certainsound from the words in the poem can convey meanings rather than through the wholemeanings of the whole words in the poetic lines. By doing so, the theme of the poemscan be explored. Then, as for the metaphors, Frost usually takes the common subjects ashis writing materials. In his poems, every physical matter stands for human’s spirits.Poetry’s basic metaphor is the transference of a living author to printed characters uponthe pages. It is Frost’s principles to say one thing but mean another. That’s why Frost’spoems usually begin with pleasure, ending with wisdom. Finally, as far as symbol isconcerned, Frost has his own way to employ it. The philosophical practice of explainingmatter through spirits and spirits through matter has been tried by Frost. He often makes use of symbols to disguise the terrifying world he means to describe in his poems, whereit is the theme of the poems.In the part of Conclusion, the thesis summarizes the philosophical features of Frost’spoems, and then reiterates the antagonism and unity between man and nature, man andman, man and society in his poems. At last, the thesis puts forward the research purposeand its practical significance.To summarize, there are antagonism and unity between man and nature, man andman, man and society in Frost’s poems. In the course of lover’s quarrel with the world,Frost expresses his attachment to nature, man and society, even though there are somepessimistic emotions in the poems. As a traditional and modern poet, Robert Frostelaborates adequately his abstruse contemplation about life and people in his outstandingworks.