Looking at the human relationship through Robert Frost’s Poetry

李瑾　谢静静

【Abstract】Robert Frost is one of the great poets in American literary history. Frosts poems take New England as their setting， and are characterized by the familiar speaking voice. His subjects are always from the life of ordinary people. Through his description of these people， Frost shows the human relationship through his poetry.

【Key words】human relationship； loneliness； wall； indifference

Robert Frost enjoyed an everlasting reputation in American literary history. He can never be ignored when people discuss the American poetry. Though his name was not known to people until he was forty， he made great contribution to American poetry. From 1914 to his death， he was probably the nations best-known and best-loved poet. His poetic style is highly appreciated in the country. He used the traditional forms such as blank verse， plain language and a graceful style.

Robert Frost is often considered a nature poet， because in his poems one can often find the description of New Englang and external nature. However， his real purpose is not to sing the praises of natural things， but to reflect his philosophy on man.

Frost portrayed many farmer characters， typical of New England， human tragedy， loneliness and the difficulties in communicating. He wrote a lot of poems to depict the invisible obstacles in human beings communication. Through this kind of obstacles， Frost tries to reflect the universal human state. Robert Frost tries to explore different kinds of human relationships in his poems.

In his poem “Mending Wall”， Frost described the farmers mending the wall. This wall is visible and it is set up in the place where the wall is unnecessary， only to separate the two neighbors. Frost himself doesnt love a wall， for the wall sets obstacles between him and his neighbors. “Something there is that doesnt love a wall”， which is repeated this sentence twice， “that sends the frozen-ground-swell under it， and spills the upper boulders in the sun”. People do not love walls， which do not make people close to each other； instead， they keep people separated. People want to pull down the wall， so that they could communicate without obstacles between them. The speaker believes that mending wall is only a useless outdoor game， for people do not need the wall at all. He doesnt think the good relationship depends on the wall， and so he tries to change his neighbors mind， telling him the wall is only an obstacle between them and prevents their communication. However， his neighbors insist that “Good fences make good neighbors”， which is also repeated twice. His neighbor believes the wall keeps good relationship between human beings. So the speaker thinks the neighbor is pitiable.

“He moves in darkness as it seems to me，

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his fathers saying，

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again， “Good fences make good neighbors.”

Here， the darkness which surrounds him not only refers to the natural darkness of the woods and the shade of these， but also refers to the darkness in his thought， that is the destructive power in his heart. Thus we could see that by saying “Good fences make good neighbors”， the speaker is saying just the opposite： there is some mysterious force at work to break down the barriers between human beings. This poem can be understood mainly as an attack on the neighbors mindless “darkness”， and the speakers desire for human companion. The wall is the man-made barriers” and sees the harmfulness of barriers.

In his other poems， Frost also reflects peoples attitude towards the elderly and children. People are indifferent to them.

“An Old Mans Winter Night” provides an intense scene of winter isolation.

“Al out-of-doors looked darkly in at him

Through the thin frost， almost in separate stars，

That gathers on the pane in empty rooms.”

The old man lives lonely in an empty room. The frost is thin and the stars are separated. All the things around him are lonely. His age prevents him from remembering why he lives here and why he has been moving from one room to another. He even can not remember what brought him to the empty room. He goes to sleep.He was at a loss. The night is terribly quiet. Only the lamp and the broken moon could accompany him. Nobody communicates with him， let alone understands him.

“He consigned to the moon——such as she was

So late——arising——to the broken moon.

As better than the sun in any case.”

Its the winter night. The snow is on the roof， which enhances the feeling of loneliness. Nothing could disturb his sleeping. Even when the sudden movement of the wood changed the old mans sleeping position， he didnt wake up. At the end of the poem， Frost writes：

“One aged man—one man—cant keep a house，

A farm， a countryside， or if he can，

Its thus he does it of a winter night.”

These three lines stressed the mans age and loneliness. He cannot really maintain his household but， more importantly， he cannot give it the meaning of a community. He alone is in the empty house， no friends， no children. No one cares about the living condition of such an old man. He is really at a loss. So in this poem， Frost manifests the indefensibility of people by describing the vulnerability of the old man in an empty universe.

Frosts another poem “Out，Out— ” tell us the story of a young boy doing the sawing work.， which should be the work of an adult. Though he is just a child， the boy is treated as an adult——old enough to work as a man. He is “Doing a mans work， though a child at heart”. However， he， like other children， expects the end of the working day.

“Call it a day， I wish they might have said

To please the boy by giving him the half hour

That a boy counts so much when saved from work.”

Frost shows his great sympathy towards this young boy.The child just needs a little play in the midst of relentless work. Finally， daytime is about to end and day work is nearly finished. His sister asks him to have supper.

“At the word， the saw，

As if to prove saws knew what supper meant，

Leaped out at the boys hand， or seemed to leap——

He must have given the hand.”

However， the tragedy happened. The boys hand is cut down. And the boy must have given his hand for the saw to eat. Here， the machinery， a buzz saw destroys the hand that created it.

“The boys first outcry was a rueful laugh”. It suggests a kind of hopelessness. Frost tries to tell us “to keep life from spilling” needs blood.

“Then the boy saw all——

Since he was old enough to know， big boy

Doing a mans work， though a child at heart——

He saw all spoiled”

The boy realizes without a hand he can not live a complete life. His plea for his hand is also a plea for his life. However， both of them lost immediately.

“He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.

And then——the watcher at his pulse took fright

No one believed. They listened at his heart.

Little——less——nothing！——and that end it.”

The saw is an instrument used by the boy， however， the saw end the boys life. It seems to be a kind of revenge. The poem is actually a ironic attack on the people who shows indifference to the boys death. Other people are “turning to their affairs”. Frost shows great angry towards this.

From these poems we could see that the subjects of Frosts poetry mainly come from the daily life of the ordinary people. He often set his characters on farms and fields. Through the characters he depicted， Frost tries to reflect a kind of philosophy on the relationship of man.

A lot of characters he depicted suffer great loneliness. They are in lack of communication and are indifference to other people. Through the relationship between neighbors， and peoples attitudes towards the old and the young， Frost depicts how people are separated from one another. All the people suffer from loneliness. People are indifference to others. There seems to be a obstacles among them. Frost tries to make use of his poems to show his great concern to the people.

作者简介：

李瑾（1981-），女，汉族，河北冀州人，河北医科大学，讲师，硕士，研究方向：英语语言文学。

谢静静（1980-），女，汉族，河北邯郸人，河北医科大学，讲师，硕士。研究方向：英语教学。