One of the most notable characteristics of Robert Frost’s poems is darkness. Several of the great poets literary works include an element of darkness. Often, Frost uses darkness as a metaphor for death. Frost’s poems are a vehicle for expressing his opinions toward death to millions of people around the world. However, death is a difficult subject to perfectly put into words and even the greatest authors sometimes struggle to be consistent in what they are saying. Two of Frost’s poems, “Out, Out—” and “After Apple-Picking”, address the same topic of death, but in very different ways and with contrasting messages. “Out, Out—” demonstrates the transience of life while “After Apple-Picking” encourages acceptance of an inevitable death. “Out, Out—” describes a young boy surrounded by “Five mountain ranges one behind the other / Under the sunset far into Vermont.” A beautiful backdrop for a child to do a man’s work behind a saw. After being called inside for supper, the saw “Leaped out at the boy’s hand” and mangles the child’s limb. The doctor arrives to remove the hand and puts the boy “in the dark of ether,” under which he dies. Soon after, life continues undisturbed for those who bore …show more content…
“Out, Out—” demonstrates the brevity of life and warns society against growing up too fast while “After Apple-Picking” describes an elderly man who is prepared to die after a long life of picking apples. Death is not a subject that can easily be put into words or described. This fact explains the entire appeal of death and darkness to poets. Both are mysterious, indescribable, and elicit a wide variety of emotions from people. Frost uses the darkness in “Out, Out—” and “After Apple-Picking” to symbolize death and accurately represents the conflicting feelings that human have towards life and