ipl-logo

Imagery In Robert Frost's Birches

745 Words3 Pages

Many authors utilize imagery to allow the reader to engage in and understand their works. In Robert Frost’s “Birches,” there are several instances where the poem contains heavy usage of imagery for this purpose. The meaning of the poem “Birches” is very under-the-surface— the entire poem focuses on bent birches— too vague for the central purpose to be clear and solid. However, the poem’s copious examples of imagery enable the audience to grasp the scenery that Frost is attempting to describe. In “Birches,” Movement One depicts the author erasing the damage that ice-storms have done to birches by replacing this idea with a more sugar-coated version; he imagines that a “Boy’s been swinging them.” (Frost 3). In addition, he also describes the …show more content…

It offers the reader a more personal and relatable vibe while reading this movement. Truth: most of us despise it, and most of us try to avoid it. Unhealthy, but we would much prefer living something fantasy-esque and more exciting than the truth, just like the speaker of “Birches,” where he “should prefer to have some boy bend them” (Frost 23). After admitting his awareness of the ice-storm, he still progresses onto his preference of the boy, in fact, fabricating a backstory of why the trees are that way— similar to that of a tall tale. In the excerpt he visions the boy as one who grew up in a rural area, too far to know of “baseball.” Instead, he finds his pleasure through the swinging of trees, for instance “One by one he subdued his father’s trees/By riding them down over and over again” (Frost 28-29). It appears, based on the recurring style of “Birches,” that it is custom that Robert Frost goes in depth when it comes to describing anecdotal situations. This is most likely done in order to obtain the reader’s full attention into immersing themselves into his literature, hence the extension of the boy’s experience, “Clear to the ground. He kept his poise,” (Frost 35) but it could also serve as a type of reminiscence that Robert Frost experienced in the process of

Show More
Related
284 Words | 2 Pages

The author’s use of imagery in the short story, “One Mile of Ice” conveys the relentless struggle between the protagonists and their environment. Hugh Garner uses imagery to convey how the protagonists feel during their struggle with the environment. The environment around them is quite frigid. Pete becomes extremely cold, but “[h]e [is] not only cold in a sensory way, his face, legs, and hands, but deep inside him the freezing wind seemed to . . . [penetrate] and [reduce] the temperature of his whole body” (Garner 21).

Read More
871 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the book, Edward Bloor uses figurative language to help describe vivid parts in the novel. For instance, “The ice was forming too rapidly in the new grove; the coatings on the trees were too thick. The loud cracking sound of trees splitting of branches like amputated limbs, or splitting in two like they’d been pole-axed, hung horribly in the frozen night air. We were losing”(225). The figurative language that Edward Bloor uses above, helps you paint the scene in your mind.

Read More
917 Words | 4 Pages

Literal Content This passage is taken from Chapter 8 of A Separate Peace by John Knowles. This excerpt is taking place a Devin in the winter where Gene is running a course which Finny had laid out for him. Gene reaches the tree and then begins to describe his surroundings noticing the snow and the stillness of the world.

Read More
663 Words | 3 Pages

Doyle captures the beauty of snow throughout its physical transformations. He humanizes snow throughout the text using the word female in his sentence “Snow is like when female cottonwood trees let go of vast gentle quantities of fluffy seed pods all at once in spring.'' We often connect the adjective “female” to living beings; by including this in his text he creates the image of snow in a life-like approach. His word choice is important in this sentence, allowing us to witness the movement of snow without being in its vicinity. His mention of cottonwood seed pods provides an impression for those who have yet to experience snow, assuming the audience has seen cottonwood during warm seasons.

Read More
1043 Words | 5 Pages

A forest can not grow up, yet he writes it as if it really could just like a small child would someday reach adulthood. The short story “Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed”, you can find the very short quote, “The wind blew, whining.”. The wind simply cannot whine.

Read More
975 Words | 4 Pages

Ambrose Bierce displays writing skills in the short story, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” that create an unforgettable tale. By using key literary devices, he takes the reader through an emotional journey. Imagery, prominently displayed throughout the story causes the reader to immerse themselves in their imagination, causing the largest effect on the audience. Within this imagery, Bierce includes symbolism to further enhance the text. Through it, he not only uses imagery to create a world, but he also creates an attachment to the characters.

Read More
1097 Words | 5 Pages

Frost’s composition ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ epitomises the unpredictable nature of revelations as reveals an individual realising their purpose. Frost’s process of discovery begins when the persona appears to “stop… between the woods and frozen lake” to contemplate his existence, curious for a life without obligations. The process continues as the persona experiences a compelling draw towards nature, expressing “the woods” as “lovely, dark and deeply”. The use of antithesis and paradox augments the connection he feels with nature by contrasting the qualities that are used to describe their appeal. His willingness to consider the oblivion of the woods suggests that he is weary of his chores.

Read More
616 Words | 3 Pages

Robert Frost’s poems explored the nature in a rather deep and dark way. For example, his poem, “After-Apple Picking” is hidden under a mask that looks like a harvester is just tired and wants to go to sleep after a day of picking apple from tree. However, we learned that this poem has deeper meaning than what is being shown on the surface. This poem is about actually talking about death as a deeper meaning. I think it is really interesting how Robert Frost, as a poet, was able to connect two themes that are completely different and make it into a single poem.

Read More
816 Words | 4 Pages

In this piece, Tobias Wolff hinges the success of his story, and the reception of his desired effect on the quick-witted reader and their ability to process fast paced dialogue. “Hunters in the snow” does not spoon feed the reader or offer much closure; However it does offer vivid written imagery and thought-provoking insight into a world of raw emotion. The characters in this story seem to lack heart, at times, so that the reader feels their own.

Read More
505 Words | 3 Pages

The author’s word choice plays a role into developing these feelings because the way the author chooses to use their words, it is a way to makes the reader understand what is happening and it captures their understanding of it. The author’s diction can be illustrated when it mentions, “At intervals, while turning over the leaves of my book. I studied the aspect of that winter afternoon.” As readers we can experience the diction, when the author encounters leaves instead of pages. The scenario used here illustrates how he is using the time and weather to demonstrate these feelings.

Read More
315 Words | 2 Pages

In “Those Winter Sundays” the author tells about memories of his childhood, specifically what his father would do to warm the house, before anybody else woke up. He would start fires and polish shoes, all without expecting anything in return. The author uses imagery to describe the “blueback” cold,

Read More
1100 Words | 5 Pages

The agony the writer is feeling about his son 's death, as well as the hint of optimism through planting the tree is powerfully depicted through the devices of diction and imagery throughout the poem. In the first stanza the speaker describes the setting when planting the Sequoia; “Rain blacked the horizon, but cold winds kept it over the Pacific, / And the sky above us stayed the dull gray.” The speaker uses a lexicon of words such as “blackened”, “cold” and “dull gray” which all introduce a harsh and sorrowful tone to the poem. Pathetic fallacy is also used through the imagery of nature;

Read More
238 Words | 1 Pages

In 1987, Mitochondrial Eve is the idea that “all mitochondrial DNAs stem from one woman" as stated in this source Brown, Michael. " Mitochondrial Eve. " The : Have Scientists Found the Mother of Us All? MHRC. Scientist believe that all humans carried mitochondrial DNA in their cells that date back to a single women.

Read More
1328 Words | 6 Pages

However, he understands that he has to face the real reason to why they are bent, which shows how Frost is trying to express that reality must be faced. The reason that the birches are bent is because of the winter storms that makes them coated with heavy snow causing them to grow in the bent-over position (Andrews 236). In the following lines, “loaded with ice in sunny winter morning” (6) Frost uses an oxymoron to show how imagination corresponds to the truth. Frost uses “sunny,” to describe the winter, which creates a powerful connotation. The season of winter is described as a harsh environment however here Frost uses sunny to describe this morning, which helps create this bright imagery.

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

Snow serves as a symbol of the love the couple once shared together. The narrator explains the night of the “big snow”, “Remember the night, out on the lawn, knee-deep in snow, chins pointed to the sky as the wind whirled down all that whiteness?” (108) which is a symbol of the climax of the love and happiness shared between the two lovers. However, the narrator uses the idea of snow once again, “just a few dots of white, no field of snow” (109) to contrast the previous image. The few dots of white symbolize the absence or dwindling of love and affection that was once shared in the house the narrator passes by.

Read More

More about Imagery In Robert Frost's Birches

Related Topics

Open Document