One night, Robert Frost joined a few guests after dinner to watch the sunset, and a woman pointed out to Frost how beautiful it was. He responded, “I do not discuss business after dinner.” This exemplifies how Frost revolves his career around the focus of nature. Robert Frost is a well-known American poet who adapts many unique literary techniques and themes that set him apart from other poets. Aside from the inspiration of the New England countryside in which he resided, Frost also uses many other aspects of nature in his poems to paint a picture of the story he is telling. He also uses devices, such as repetition and opposition, adding depth to his writings. In Robert Frost’s works of poetry “Acquainted with the Night,” “Birches,” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Frost exemplifies loneliness and pastoral life by using opposition and repetition to carry out these themes in nature

The first theme portrayed in Robert Frost’s poems is loneliness. Loneliness is a recurring theme in the poem “Acquainted with the Night,” and the night is one of the loneliest times. With the night being very dark, it brings out the saddest of times. It also brings upon a certain kind of loneliness that keeps people isolated from others (Fagan 22). In the poem “Acquainted with the Night” by Robert Frost, Frost uses the moon as a device for representing time and as a guide: “One luminary clock against the sky” (Frost “Acquainted with the Night”). The word luminary references something that is glowing and emits light, hence guiding the narrator through the night. Next, the theme of isolation of others is expressed in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by being secluded from society. The speaker in the poem enters the woods where he believes he is trespassing: “Whose woods these are I think I know, / His house is in the village though; / He will not see me stopping here” (Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”). The owner of the woods lives far in the village, so he will not see him trespassing. The image of the village shows that civilization is nearby, but he is isolated by the forest. The speaker stresses how far he is from home by explaining the distance is from his home: “And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”). The traveler in this story ventures far into the woods and is pondering on how far he must travel to reach his home again. All in all, the speaker is, again, alone in the forest with no one but his horse to finish his route through the woods on his way home. On the other hand, in the poem “Acquainted with the Night,” Frost uses the themes of night and isolation together. The many people, or in other words “acquaintances,” the speaker comes across do not acknowledge him as they both go along their night. In the poem, the speaker experiences loneliness while walking through the town: “Frost’s poem describes a frame of mind, a sense of being alone and withdrawn from human relationships and social connections” (“Acquainted with the Night” 3). The speaker hears cries, but he brushes the cries off realizing they are not for him. The speaker in the poem becomes acquainted with society by not interacting with the people he comes across. (Kidd 11). Also, the night exemplified in the poem “Acquainted with the Night” brings upon sadness to the narrator. The theme of sadness and loneliness is prominent in this work of Robert Frost: “... that night is associated with unexplainable sadness, but it is yet unclear whether this sadness is the speaker’s or is witnessed by the speaker” (Fagan 22). It is not identified if the speaker is experiencing sadness, or he is witnessing it in someone else. Rain, another aspect of nature, is used to express quietness and solitude in “Acquainted with the Night.” Not only does Frost use the themes of isolation and loneliness, but he also uses the themes of silence and solitude: “Frost uses symbolism and imagery to set a mood of not just isolation and loneliness but also quiet and solitude” (Kidd 11). In “Birches,” Frost touches on how the narrator wishes to escape Earth and the challenges that he faces on Earth. Frost wraps up the poem by stating how he does not wish to die, but he wishes for a temporary escape from Earth. All in all, Frost addresses the fact that he wishes he had a break from all of the troubling experiences on Earth, but he does not wish to be freed from Earth eternally (Andrews 450). Finally, the night opens new opportunities to dwell in the loneliness and take time to self-examine. Many people feel a sense of isolation when they are alone in the night, but Frost enjoys the loneliness to explore his inner thoughts (Kidd 11). All in all, the theme of loneliness is exemplified with the use of the night, rain, and self-examination.

Next, Robert Frost continues with the recurring theme of nature and touches on the theme of pastoral life. In the poem “Birches,” Frost recalls times in his childhood where he would swing on the branches at a family farm. Frost likes to believe that young boys similar to him growing up shared this experience, but it was all in his imagination. In reality, the bending of the branches is from an ice storm that results in the branches arching (Fagan 22). On the other hand, pastoral life usually has a rural setting away from city life and society. The use of the image of fields and pastures can be seen as a form of isolation: “In some respects, ‘Birches,’ as well as many other Frost poems, can be considered a pastoral in that it has a rural setting and represents the boy’s solitary life as something to be desired” (“Birches” 18). Frost uses the symbolism of rural settings to create a feeling of seclusion or isolation between the narrator and the rest of society: “As he went out and in to fetch the cows— / Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, / Whose only play was what he found himself, / Summer or winter, and could play alone” (Frost). The use of the boy in the country creates an image of isolation from the rest of society and the freedom he experiences in the countryside. The boy explores the natural world by herding cattle and playing in the fields alone. In conclusion, Frost’s use of pastoral life to carry out the themes of childhood and isolation.

Robert Frost uses the two main literary devices of opposition and repetition to create depth in his works of poetry. Frost uses the literary device of opposition to organize inner thoughts: “Another reason why ‘Stopping by Woods’ seems simple is that it is structured around many familiar oppositions.” These oppositions include man vs. nature, emptiness vs. fullness, and society vs. solitude. Frost does this to get a better understanding of what the poem is trying to say (Monte). In the poem “Birches,” there is a theme of the real world versus Frost’s imagination: “While the poet quickly establishes that he knows the real reason that this has happened - … - he prefers instead to imagine that something else entirely has happened: a young boy has climbed to the top of the trees and pulled them down…” (“Birches” 13). Smith speaks on how Frost has the ability to make people ponder the difference in external versus internal views of a person: “One of his greatest concerns was how a person can define himself or herself in the world - that is, what does it mean to be conscious and what is the relation between the external, observed world and the interior world of the mind and imagination” (Smith 20). Frost stretches beyond nature and creates more complex ideas regarding mind and imagination. He also goes on to use the opposition of man vs. nature to express the relationship man has with nature in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Humans can take note of events in nature, but nature itself cannot form an opinion: “Nature is not aware of itself, and the horse as a part of nature, is not aware of the setting. Humans, however, have a special relationship to nature” (Fagan 318). This ties back to the horse thinking it is queer by stopping. The horse cannot form his own opinions about stopping in the woods, but humans can. In the poem, Frost does not just paint the scene, but he has the man experience nature: “The poem is not simply a description of a natural scene, but is about a person experiencing the scene” (Fagan 318). The man in the poem interacts with nature by passing farmhouses and observing the frozen lakes. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Frost uses repetition to create depth to the poem. To conclude the poem, Frost uses a unique ending: “The drowsy repetition of ‘And miles to go before I sleep’ completes this effect, and we sense that the poem is enacting what the man is feeling” (Monte). It ends with a drowsy feeling as if the man is drifting off into a sleep, or a dreamworld is being entered. With the use of oppositions of man versus nature and imagination versus reality, Frost organizes his inner thoughts in this poetry. He also uses repetition to create drowsy feelings. By using opposition and repetition, Frost adds more depth to his poetry.  

Robert Frost uses opposition and repetition and nature to carry out the themes of loneliness and pastoral life in the poems “Acquainted with the Night,” “Birches,” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” He first uses nature to exemplify loneliness by using the night and rain. The night gives the speaker the moon as a guide, isolation from others, and brings upon sadness. The narrator also dwells in the night to examine himself and ponders on wanting to escape Earth. Next, the theme of pastoral life is shown by Frost alluding to his childhood when he swung on birches at his family farm. He goes on to speak about isolation in the rural areas and the alone time mentioned by the little boy in “Birches.” Finally, the use of literary devices, such as conflict and repetition, to create depth in his poems “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Birches.” He uses imagination versus reality by thinking children are swinging on birch trees as he did as a child, but in reality, the branches are arched due to a snowstorm. He also uses nature versus man to show the relationship man has with nature. With the use of the recurring theme of nature and literary devices, Robert Frost is a renowned poet in the world of poetry.

Works Cited

“Acquainted with the Night.” Poetry for Students, edited by Sara Constantakis, vol. 35, Gale, 2010, pp. 1-21. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Andrews, Terry L. “Birches.” Masterplots II, edited by Phillip K. Jason, vol. 2, Salem Press,2002, pp. 450-452.

“Birches.” Poetry for Students, edited by Elizabeth Thomason, vol. 13, Gale, 2001, pp.13-19.

Fagan, Deirdre. Critical Companion to Robert Frost: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work. Facts on File, Inc., 2007, pp. 22-25, pp. 42-43, pp. 317-319.

Frost, Robert. “Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 1928.

Frost, Robert. “Birches by Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 1914.

Frost, Robert. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, 1922.

Kidd, Kimberly H. “Acquainted with the Night.” Masterplots II, edited by Phillip K. Jason, vol. 2, Salem Press, 2002, pp. 9-11.

Monte, Steven. "An overview of ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’." Poetry for Students, Gale. Literature Resource Center. Accessed 30 Jan. 2019.

Smith, Erica. “Birches.” Poetry for Students, edited by Elizabeth Thomason, vol. 13, Gale, 2001, pp. 20-21.