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An Exploration of the Stratums of Delight and Wisdom in the Poetry of Robert Frost

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An Exploration of the Stratums of Delight and Wisdom in the Poetry of Robert Frost AN EXPLORATION OF THE STRATUMS OF DELIGHT AND WISDOM IN THE POETRY OF ROBERT FROST 1Mohammad Tajuddin, 2Md. Nazmul Huda 1&2 Assistant Professors,Department of English Language and Literature, International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh. Email: [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT Based on one single comment of Robert Frost (1874-1963) about his poetry, “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom”, the paper explores how the stratums of delight and wisdom of his poems are produced, and also it argues that because of Frost‟s commonsense style and convincing portrayal of universal values and truth of common humanity, the poetry of Frost becomes the source of delight and wisdom for the readers. To explore the question or point already stated, some of the best poems of the poet, with special focus on the forms and styles used by Frost, have been taken into consideration, along with available critical approaches to the poet. Not only that, few of the earlier comments of the different school of poetry- from Aristotle to Horace onwards- have been engaged to analyze and answer the question Frost has produced by the comment about his own poems in particular and the poetry in general. This paper also focuses the fact that the delight and wisdom of Frost‟s poems are derived not only from stylistic forms of his poetry but also from his inner experience of human soul and mind and outer observation of life and nature. Though the realm of Frost‟s poetry basically presents a bleak picture of reality and human life, with seemingly occasional delightful picture of nature, it becomes a great source of delight and wisdom because of Frost‟s truthful presentation of life, human values and nature. Thus this paper explores the issue of delight and wisdom in the poetry of Robert Frost. KEYWORDS: Poetry of Robert Frost, Delight and wisdom, forms and styles, presentation of truth, function of poetry, commonsense style. INTRODUCTION so called ideal state of Plato. Aristotle, who calls dramatic poetry as imitation, disagrees with Plato in Robert Frost says, “a poem begins in delight and ends the sense that poetry as imitation presents the truth in wisdom.” If we investigate into this statement in and every truth is beautiful and source of delight. For the light of his poems, we find the saying to be more Aristotle, as he mentioned in his Poetics, the value of expressive than practical theory. Regarding poetry poetry lies in its presentation of truth through the and its nature and function, some such theoretical imitation, a process the poets undertake while writing statements date back at least four hundred B. C. with poems. Every truth virtually becomes the source of Plato and Aristotle and then Horace and so on and so delight and pleasure, just as Keats says, “Beauty is forth. Aristotle first disagreed with his teacher and truth, truth beauty…” or the statement of 17th century mentor Plato regarding the value of poets and poetry. French philosopher Descartes: “there is no beauty Plato never supported the presence of poets and than the beauty of truth.” For Francis Bacon, in his poetry in his so called Ideal State, because they copy essay “of Truth”, viewing truth gives immense just images of reality which are, according to Plato, pleasure to someone. Viewing truth from a vintage mere falsehood or Shadows not substance. Therefore, point of life, as Bacon says, is similar to enjoying a poets, sculptors and painters are not welcome in the view of storm, sweeping below, from the top of the 11 valley. Supposedly, from Frost‟s statement, “a poem These two types of meanings affirm the fact that begins in delight and ends in wisdom” we can assert Frost does claim for poetry a double function: that Frost aims at two things, delight and wisdom, for delighting and teaching at the same time as narrated his poetry. Though Frost actually had no theoretical by Roman poet Horace, and Wordsworth in his purpose to narrate, like Horace, Dryden, Wordsworth Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth, and Coleridge or Arnold; the value of his statement is however, unlike Frost, expressed high notion of truly realized and understood through the expressive poetry and described poetry as the finer spirit of nature of his poems. The delight and wisdom of mankind. On the other hand, Frost described poetry Frost‟s poems are derived from various things, from as something capable of giving same pattern of his commonsense and plain expressive style, through meaning to human life as history and science can the faithful imitation of the truth of life derived from give. his inner as well as outer experience of the nature and human life. Frost‟s poem, “The Pasture”, which Frost included at the beginning of every collection of his poetry, can OBJECTIVE be a good example of his expressive and commonsense style as well as the source of delight Based on one of Frost‟s comments: “A poem begins and wisdom. The village farmer who is the „persona‟ in delight and ends in wisdom” this paper explores of the poem plainly talks about his daily activities the stratums or the levels of wisdom, delight and with a sense of delight narrating at the same time the commonsense tendency of Frost‟s poems to see how delightful bucolic atmosphere in the sight of “pasture they are produced in the poetry of Robert Frost. This spring” and a “little calf” tottering beside its mother. paper argues for the fact that these are derived from But each stanza ends with wisdom, which actually various things as Frost inculcated in his poetry means, deep understanding of life, expressing the besides the poet‟s truthful presentation of human life limitations of human life: “I sha‟nt be gone long”. and nature. The farmer enjoys his life with simple activities within the domain of his farm though he cannot go DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS beyond: Frost believes in good sense in the creative process of I'm going out to clean the pasture spring; poetry. He also believes in the good control of mind I'll only stop to rake the leaves away over emotion while writing a poem. This means that (And wait to watch the water clear, I may): the content and the form must be harmonious so that I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too. a poem is created with a good sense and sound. Delight and wisdom may be derived from such I'm going out to fetch the little calf logical combination of thought and emotion. So Frost That's standing by the mother. It's so young, will not sacrifice form for content or vice versa is It totters when she licks it with her tongue. again testified in his aiming to make a new sort of I sha'n't be gone long.—You come too. “music” in his poetry which he ambiguously calls (“The Pasture”) “the sound of sense” (similar to one of Pope‟s line: “The sound must seem an echo to the sense.”). The farmer expresses his delight inviting others; According to William H. Pritchard, the phrase “the “You come too”. The commonsense simplicity of sound of sense” has two meanings: verse, along with deep philosophy of life, creates a sense of delight and wisdom for readers. The phrase may accommodate either an underlining of “sound” or of “sense,” thereby setting up a playful In a deeper level Frost‟s statement “A poem begins in shuttling between the poem as communicating delight and ends in wisdom,” is more expressive in something, some grain of wisdom or truth about the nature than a pragmatic theory of poetry and it is world (the sound of sense) and the poem as wholly virtually a description of his own concept of the embodying that truth through its particular music, so creative process. As Lawrence Thompson has that one is mainly aware of something heard (the pointed out, Frost has said again and again that there sound of sense). (Pritchard, 1984, p.77) is a striking analogy between the course of a true 12 poem and of a true love. Each begins as an impulse, recognition of a particularly apt correspondence or a disturbing excitement, and each ends as an analogy” (1962, p. 24). Thus, Thompson sees two understanding: basic approaches of creating poetry in Frost: No one can really hold that the ecstasy The first begins as an emotional response should be static and stand still in one place. which gradually finds its resolution in a It begins in delight, it inclines to the thought metaphorically expressed; the impulse, it assumes direction with the first second begins with the perception of the line laid down, it runs a course of lucky metaphor, and the rational focus is so events, and ends in a clarification of life— pleasurable in its sudden discovery that it not necessarily a great clarification, such as produces an emotional afterglow. The first sects and cults are founded on, but in a leads the poet to venture into the writing of momentary stay against confusion. It has the poem as an act of faith, without denouement. It has an outcome that though foreseeing the outcome; the second leads the unforeseen was predestined from the first poet to give shape and weight to a rational image of the original mood. (Thompson, correspondence which has been perceived 1962, p. 21) clearly before he begins the writing of the poem. (Thompson, 1962, p. 24) As for the real nature of Frost‟s poetry it may be asserted that the delight and wisdom are not only Also, a poem may be delightful in the two ways, that derived from some descriptions of happy events of is, first, the poet may be happy when he finds the the poet‟s life or nature, but also from the agonizing harmonious bond between his thought and emotion experience of life, while these experiences represent bringing the poem into the state of completion in the greater truth of life.
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