Symbolism in the poems of Robert Frost

LI Wei

Robert Frost was an American poet who wrote many poems that investigate the basic themes of human life. Frost was honored frequently during his lifetime， receiving four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He wrote about the daily life of ordinary people—farmers， shepherds： small rural events， fence mending， good and evil， all the matters of life and death. In Frosts poem， the profound ideas are often delivered under the disguise of plain language and simple form， for what Frost did is to take symbols from the limited human world and the pastoral landscape to refer to the great space beyond the rustic scene.

Symbolism is the use of an ordinary item that causes the reader to think about what it stands for. This paper will tentatively talk about the symbolism used in the poem of Robert Frost. By analyzing the deep meaning of the symbolic objects， we can easily find the theme of each poem and the writing purpose of the poet.

“The road not taken” is a symbolic poem. The “yellow wood” may symbolize sophisticated society， in which most people are likely to follow a profitable but easier way； each “road” symbolizes a possibility in life； the “traveller ” is the embodiment of every individual in the human world； the road which is “grassy and wanted wear” refers to a solitary life of human world. Through the description of “A road not taken”， the poet presents to the reader his experience of taking a road. In the second stanza， after the judgment and hesitation， the traveler makes up his mind to take the road which looks grassy and wants wear. This is often believed to be the symbol of the poets choice of a solitary life—taking poetry writing as his life profession. In stanza 3， the two roads are equally pretty， so as soon as he made the choice of the one， the poet felt pitiful for abandoning the other. He is quite aware that his intention of “next choice” will be nothing than an empty promise. In the last stanza， the poet was imaging many years later when he is recalling the choice he made today， he would respond with nothing else but a sigh， for it would be too hard for anyone to make any comment on the choice made early in life.

Mending Wall， by Robert Frost portrays the routines of two neighbors who are constantly mending the fence， or wall， that separates their properties. In this poem， the wall symbolizes the regulations made upon human beings in modern society. Living in the modern society， one is bound by many rules and laws， the establishment of which is to enforce the normal social order. A modern society without laws is hardly imaginable. Similarly， a society with too many rules is not desirable either. Actually， Robert Frost intended to complain that in the modern world， When God is very indifferent to human beings， the natural links between individuals is， as well， collapsing. In Frosts poem， the collapsing of the wall strongly symbolizes the humans wish to eliminate the estrangement， but the wish often results naturally in a new mending job. Sometimes people are exposed to the paradoxical fact that it is just done to the existence of these walls that human beings may possibly feel safely defended and， therefore， be calmed down to communicate just over the fence so as to， more or less， understand each other. To this poem， some say the speaker symbolizes the younger generation who calls for a complete social change， whereas the neighbor represents the old generation who tries to keep the traditional and hates reform and change. Some agree that the wall prevents any two nations from understanding each other， hence they need to pull down this barriers so as to promote communication between two parties. Many regulations limit the imagination of human beings and make them unable to develop themselves. Therefore， this contradiction of ideas shows the dilemma of modern civilization. Human beings living in this society ought to waver between the two extremes.

By using the symbolic persons and objects in this poem， Robert Frost delivers their deep thoughts clearly and vividly. He and his poems bring us both thinking and pleasure. That is the reason why he is immortal and remembered by common people.

【作者簡介】LI Wei， Ma anshan Teachers College.

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