The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems

The Road Quite Well-Traveled-By

A shockingly high percentage of this literary work is, in fact, just fine. It is not bad in a traditional “literary” sense. I am certain that Frost adhered to the established conventions and met the expected standards in terms of mechanics. However, it falls short when it comes to revealing the true essence of Robert Frost and his world within the neatly trimmed and cultivated lines of rhyme.

Here and there, there are phrases and disclosures that manage to catch at the soul. These are the parts that I can read and re-read with great pleasure, and even a bit of excitement and inspiration. For these particular elements, I would award a solid five stars. It is rather disappointing, though, that much of the rest of the work is quite tidy and bland.

I understand that there are likely layers of symbolism within this work that I may be ignorant of. It is said that Frost was ahead of his time, being “beat” before the term was even a thing, and punk long before punk became cool. But must I constantly keep in mind what every little detail such as the crusted snow, the lone aster, the pine spruce gum, the spruce, the cellars, and myriad other natural things represent in each and every line of verse?

The first category of Frost's narratives is ballads. These are considered his weakest work in this mode. His initial five books contain only four narrative ballads - two in "A Boy's Will" and two in "Mountain Interval". They differ from his other narrative verses in their use of rhyme and stanza, as well as their conventional diction and syntax, which seem overly traditional and perhaps derivative. Their lack of stylistic individuality is particularly evident in "Mountain Interval", where neighboring poems like "The Road Not Taken" and "Birches" have a more supple, subtler, and distinctively Frostian cadence. Meanwhile, the language in "Brown's Descent" sounds stiff and generic.

The second category of Frost's narrative poetry is also traditional - linear narratives composed of blank verse, usually told in the third person. The form seems borrowed from earlier narrative poetry and the contemporary short story, but is more concisely described than in either tradition. Despite their traditional structure, these poems avoid the anachronistic manner of ballads. Their language is modern and conversational, and their tone is understated and austere. Perhaps most significantly, they seem hard-edged and realistic rather than soft or idealized. However, like the ballads, they represent a small portion of Frost's narrative work. There are only four such linear narratives in the first five books - "'Out, Out—,'" in "Mountain Interval", "A Place for a Third", and "Two Look at Two" in "New Hampshire". And finally, in "Mountain Interval", "The Vanishing Red", a brutal and callous tale that is probably Frost's most controversial poem. (To this quartet, one should probably add "Paul's Wife", a tall, rambling story that seems unique among the narratives, more of a spiral in design than linear.) These four poems are all strikingly concise and controlled.

The dramatic monologues are especially revealing. Critics often describe Frost's narratives as "monologues", but this term is usually a misnomer. In the first five books, there are only three dramatic monologues - "A Servant to Servants" in "North of Boston", "The Pauper Witch of Grafton", and "Wild Grapes" in "New Hampshire". The dramatic monologue emerged as the leading narrative form during Frost's formative years. Brilliantly developed by Browning and Tennyson, it provided a narrative strategy that offered lyric compression and psychological depth of character. It became the central narrative form for early twentieth-century American poets. Robinson, Pound, Eliot, Edgar Lee Masters, and Conrad Aiken all did significant work in this form. Frost's avoidance of the dramatic monologue cannot be accidental. Unlike the ballad, the monologue was well-suited to his talents. "A Servant to Servants", a dark portrayal of a depressed and exhausted woman on the verge of madness, as Jarrell and Parini have noted, is a poem of memorable intensity. Frost's hesitation with this form came not from what he could put into it, which was compelling, but from what he couldn't include.

The fourth category of Frost's narrative work is the largest and most original. These poems were so innovative in style and structure that even a hundred years later, there is no conventional name for Frost's verse form. I shall call it the dramatic narrative. Written in conversational blank verse (except for "Blueberries", which is in rhymed anapestic couplets), the dramatic narratives combine direct dialogue with minimalist narration, usually in the omniscient third person. The conversation predominates, and the narration is strictly descriptive, never offering any overt authorial interpretation of the characters or situations. Instead, the narration sets the scene and describes the characters' actions when not speaking, just as stage directions would in a realist play.