Frost’s Early Poems Quotes: Nature

And then he flew as far as eye could see, And then on tremulous wing came back to me. . . . But he turned first, and led my eye to look At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook, A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.

In “The Tuft of Flowers,” Frost explores the theme of nature through the speaker’s recognition of the natural world around him. In this quote, the speaker describes how a butterfly leads him to see a patch of flowers that the morning mower seems to have purposely left untouched. Even though the mower’s job was to cut the grass and flowers, he saw the beauty in that patch of flowers and valued that beauty enough to leave the flowers alone. The butterfly and flowers symbolize the beauty of nature in this poem.

The view was all in lines Straight up and down of tall slim trees Too much alike to mark or name a place by So as to say for certain I was here Or somewhere else: I was just far from home. A small bird flew before me. He was careful To put a tree between us when he lighted, And say no word to tell me who he was[.]

The theme of nature is obvious in “The Wood-Pile,” as the speaker describes his walk into the frozen swamp where he sees a decaying wood pile. Here, the speaker describes what he sees as he walks into the wooded area. Not only does the speaker observe nature, such as the trees and a small bird, but he connects these visuals with his feelings about moving away from home or reality in these moments. Then the small bird almost takes on the role of a character and acts as a guide for the speaker as he moves farther into this natural setting.

Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells Shattering and avalanching on the snow crust— Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

In “Birches,” as well as many other poems, Frost connects human emotion with nature. As the speaker describes how he views birch trees, he explains a personal swing between imaginative youth and realistic truth. While much of this poem focuses on the speaker’s imagined version of what causes birches to bend toward the ground, these lines provide a closer glimpse of the trees themselves. Here, the speaker gives a vivid description of ice-coated birch trees, in particular the effect the shattered ice has upon the snow. His description connects the trees’ beauty to heaven, revealing the inherent divinity of such a natural setting.

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village, though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.

The theme of nature plays a significant role in Frost’s poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Even the title reveals the poem’s deep connection to nature. These lines describe the isolated, natural setting where the speaker stops to simply observe and reflect in the calm and quiet of this winter scene. Nature creates an ideal atmosphere for the speaker to escape responsibilities, village life, and reality, even if just for a few moments. The speaker even imagines that his horse, a creature accustomed to human routine, feels confused as to why they’ve stopped in such a quiet, isolated spot.

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