Robert Frost Transcendentalism

Robert Frost published his work in the early 20th century, throughout a period of overwhelming advancements in technology. However Frost opposed this advancement in technology. Frost was a transcendentalist, therefore he believed in nature, and refused any theist belief. He saw the rise of technology as a new, dark age. He also followed pastoral tradition, following the works Virgil, in particular Eclogues in which a harmonic view of nature is portrayed. Frost explored nature not only through his poetry, but also in his life, becoming a farmer in New Hampshire in his later life. This ever-changing relationship between man and nature is explored extensively in both ‘Mending Wall’ and ‘Out, Out’, as well as many other pieces of Frosts work. Throughout

Neither or these poems use stanzas, hinting at a lack of progression. The final phrase in ‘Mending wall’, ‘Good fences make good neighbors’ hints at the neighbor’s ignorance, as no reasons are given, he just repeats a single phrase. Therefore there is little progression throughout the poem. This idea of circularity is repeated in ‘Out, Out’. The final phrase ‘Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs’, has an extended meaning suggesting that life goes on, little could be done about ‘the boy’s’ death but continue to go on with their lives. The buzz saw could be a metaphor for the circular cycle of life. This metaphor is the idea that life goes in circles, and will keep on going no matter what gets in the way, much like the buzz saw itself. This could be reflective of man’s lack of progression, as the buzz saw only moves in circles. Frost therefore explores a pessimistic view of technological advancement, seeing it as dark, and a dangerous, unknown new

In Mending Wall, Frost describes man as a killer, taking ‘the rabbit out of hiding, to please the yelping dogs’. The term ‘to please’ suggests that the death of the rabbits is purely unnecessary, comparing the hunters to hungry, aggressive ‘dogs’. This destructive manner is also found when exploring the damage done to the wall by the hunters. In Frost’s ‘Out, Out’, the ‘boy’ loses his hand to a machine invented by man. Robert explores technological development, and believes that it may not actually be helping the quality of human life. Secondly, throughout ‘Out, Out’ Frost refers to the character as ‘the boy’, keeping the reader detached from the character. This has connotations of distance and carelessness. This is emphasized by the finishing phrase ‘turned to their affairs’ suggests that everyone else just went on with their life, there was little remorse for leaving a boy to do a ‘man’s work’. This theme of loss is greatly symbolic of Frosts life. He lost his father when he was 11, lost his mum in 1900 and lost his sister in 1929, therefore depression was frequent in Frosts life. In 1923 he bought a farm in New Hampshire, aiming to connect to nature following the works of Virgil and pastoral tradition, searching for harmony with nature. However he was largely unsuccessful and ironically failed to connect with