![]() Why does Frost do this? Well, it tips the reader forward into a big stress on ‘SWINGing’ them. I think it’s the repetition of the ‘b’ sound and the clash of the ‘o’ and ‘ee’ vowel sounds. Yes it’s iambic pentameter, but the linking of ‘boy’s been’ means you can’t help stressing both the words. They contrast with the ‘birches bend’ ‘left and right’ which conveys a sense of trees swaying. Note how his choice of words ‘line’ and ‘darker’ convey a sense of an upright lines, reflecting the straighter trees. The first two lines are neat iambic pentameter. Frost uses the first person he does this often in his poems and it gives them an intimate, personal feel. I like to think some boy’s been swinging them. When I see birches bend to left and rightĪcross the lines of straighter darker trees, It’s called ‘Birches’ and has a delicate loveliness hiding an interesting complexity which makes me want to read it and read it again. So let’s look at one of my favourite Frost poems. (But note his use of ‘gee’ – aw shucks, I’m just a simple hick chattin’ about poetry) I love the tactile way he describes the rhythms of poetry – as if it is something he can feel in his hand. Look at this wonderful way he describes playing with the rhythms of a meter…Īnd gee what’s the good of the rhythm unless it is on something that trips it – that ruffles? You know, it’s got to ruffle the meter. ![]() I am never more pleased than when I can get these into strained relation. My versification … is as simple as this, there are very regular pre-established accent and measure of blank verse and there are the very irregular accent and measure of speaking intonation. ![]() He liked the tension created by tugging at the iambic rhythm to create a sense of natural speech. He is quoted as saying, ‘I had as soon write free verse as to play tennis with the net down.’ Brilliant.Įven better, he wasn’t a slavish follower of the iambic rhythm. It’s a very common metre and you can find this form in literature going back a thousand years.įrost was always very scathing about the use of free verse. So: tee TUM tee TUM tee TUM tee TUM tee TUM. Basically, iambic pentameter is five beats in a line where every other syllable is stressed. To learn more about the iambic foot, you can have a look at my post on George Herbert. Many of his poems are written in blank verse. Unlike his peers who were experimenting with free verse, Frost chose to use a fairly formal and conventional structure: the iambic pentameter. The main reason I am a little in love with Frost is his approach to metre. Not the usual compatriots of a simple farmer. He spent some time at Harvard and in 1912 he travelled to England where he formed friendships with great poets such as Edward Thomas, T.E. It makes you want to turn the TV up loud and hide under your duvet.įrost was highly cultured and educated. Yes, he writes in a folksy way, usually in blank verse, but when you read and re-read his work you will see the darkness within it.Ī particularly good example of this is ‘ Desert Places‘ I defy anyone to read that poem without shivering with unease. ![]() We must never forget that Frost is a Modernist poet. A poem you think is about picking apples, or mending walls, or going for a walk on the hills, very quickly reveals itself to be about death, or the fear of absence, or the terrors of a Godless world.
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