Robert Frost's Paradoxical View of Nature: Home Burial, Conclusion

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Robert Frost’s Paradoxical View of Nature
Introduction
Robert Frost has often been referred to as the interpreter of New England, and with an even stronger interest towards interpreting humanity and nature as a whole. His poetries exemplify that he was keen to observe people and nature. In this paper, I attempt to evaluate the Frost’s view of nature that he has expressed through his poems. Two poems that I have used to examine his point of view are “Design” and “Home Burial”. The main theme of death has been analyzed in this paper as depicted in the two selected poems.
Discussion
Design
In both the poems the author has explained the concept of death that is part of the nature. In his poem “Design” he has defined death by using three elements 1. A white spider, 2. A white moth and 3. A white flower (heal-all). He describes a situation where the spider is eating the moth on a white flower. The author has questioned in the last stanza whether the God’s creation of spider is evil as it has to kill the moth to survive. However, it depicts the natural phenomenon of death. Frost has symbolized spider, moth and flower to represent death and decay by referring to them as “ingredients of a witch’s broth”. Although the moth was on the white flower “heal-all” that has the medicinal capabilities, still it could not survive as death is inevitable. In his poem, Frost has explained the nature that is governed by God. Using the title “Design” for this poem, he shows that the process of life and death has been designed already and it will eventually happen. However, the author has questioned the God’s creation of evil such as the spider that kills the moth on the white flower. Although he has used the white color to describe all the three fundamental elements of the poem, which depicts innocence, but it is strange how an innocent creature can kill another one. Nonetheless, this how the nature works, as the spider has to eat the moth for its survival.
Home Burial
The other poem by Frost – “Home Burial” also explores a similar concept of death. In this poem the author has described a conversation between husband and wife who has recently lost their child. Their only child has died and both the parents are trying to cope up with their loss differently. This poems defines the different perspective of the mother and father towards dealing with the grief. In the opening of the poem the author describes the mother standing at the top of the staircase and her husband at the other end. The mother is looking at the grave of her child through the window in sorrow and anger. The husband tries to understand the reason for her behavior and to talk to her, but she leaves the house.
Nature and Death
The author has described the phenomenon of death in two ways i.e. the death of the child and the death of the marriage of the parents. He explains death as the end to a relationship. Both the mother and father chose to express their sorrow differently. The manner in which the mother keeps looking at the ...