Death by Frost

          Robert Frost wrote almost exclusively about death and mortality, whether that theme is hidden, as in “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” or obvious, as in “Out, Out—.” Each of these poems describes death in a different mood and theme. These poems express the following themes respectively: the inevitability of change, the acceptance of the conditions of life, and the fragility of life.
          Upon first reading “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” it may seem that Frost is merely speaking about nature. He is talking about nature, but he is using it to describe the change that death brings. Hidden in this short poem is a broader theme that this change is inevitable. “Nature’s first green is gold, / Her hardest hue to hold” (lines 1-2) is a general statement: everything good must eventually die because change is a necessary part of life. The alliteration in the second line is effective because it seems to hold on to that particular sound—exactly what the poem is saying is difficult to do. “The leaf subsides to leaf / So Eden sank to grief / So dawn goes down to day” (5-7) are three examples of things that we already know happen or have happened. The leaves of plants die and fall from the plant to give room to newer leaves; the leaves of that plant are constantly dying and being replaced—always changing. Secondly, as some religious denominations teach, Eden was predestined to fall from the very beginning. The change enacted on the Garden by God was inevitable. The final example states that the cycle of the day will always repeat: day will change to night, night will change to day, “nothing gold can stay” (8).
          The second poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” has a theme of acceptance and perseverance. The speaker is on a journey of some sort, but takes the time to break from routine and contemplate a patch of woods. “My little horse must think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near” (5-6) because the horse is picking up on this break in routine. Now, the woods are a symbol of death in this poem, and the horse’s response suggests that the speaker is pondering death for the first time. “…The sweep / Of easy wind and downy flake” (11-12) are soft, quiet sounds. Snow makes very little noise, and it muffles sound if one walks on it. Frost’s description brings a calming, peaceful picture to mind. These woods are also “…lovely, dark and deep” (13). The speaker is very attracted to these woods—to death. “But I have promises to keep / And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep” (14-16). The speaker cannot go and sleep because it is the condition of his life that he must first fulfill his commitments. He already has accepted that death is inevitable, but he also must accept that he cannot shirk his duties and sleep. The consistent rhythm throughout the line of the poem refers to the routine that the speaker follows and to which the horse is accustomed. Although he thinks of breaking that routine, he does not; therefore, the poem does not either.
          “Out, Out—” is the title of the third poem. Frost places this poem on a farm where a boy is cutting wood with a saw. The work day is about to end as the poem begins: “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…” (10-13). Poetry editor Aviya Kushner believes “this line hints that disaster is on its way instead of the respite for which the boy might so appreciate…—a half-hour means so much to a child.” The disaster to which Kushner refers is that the saw cuts off the boy’s hand.

“The saw, 

…………………………………………………… 

Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap— 

He must have given the hand. However it was, 

Neither refused the meeting…” (14-18). 

This moment seems to be predetermined, which is why the speaker guesses that he gave his hand to the saw and why the speaker seems to foreshadow a disaster as Kushner points out. “Then the boy saw all— / Since he was old enough to know, big boy / Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—…” (22-24). These lines express how fragile life really is, and especially how fragile life for a child is: he is a “big boy,” but he is doing dangerous work meant for an adult. Everything is fine one moment, but a child is bleeding out in the next. The boy fights against the notion that he may die and begs his sister for help: “…Don’t let him cut my hand off— / The doctor, when he comes. Don’t let him sister!’/ So. But the hand was gone already” (25-27). “The word ‘So,’ all alone in a sentence captures the hopelessness of the situation. The doctor merely walks in and numbs the boy” (Kushner).

“The doctor put him in the dark of ether. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They listened at his heart. 

Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it. 

No more to build on there. And they, since they 

Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs” (28-34). 

          The boy is the center of attention while he is still alive. They try to help him, but all they can do is numb him. When he does die, they all seem to move on immediately. They turn to their respective duties because death is just a part of life. “No more to build on there…” (33) because there is no point worrying about something that cannot be helped. “The boy was a child, or ‘little.’ With his hand gone, he was ‘less.’ And then, with his pulse gone, he was ‘nothing’” (Kushner). The way Frost broke the lines and his bluntness give the poem an abrupt feeling, which mirrors the events that happen within the poem. The speaker recounts the incident frankly and suddenly—the same way in which the death occurs.
          These three poems by Robert Frost all speak of the same topic, but because they each have different themes and tell different stories, it does not seem so. “Nothing Gold Can Stay” is not a sad poem because the speaker describes death as something natural, something that must happen to make room for others. Death in this poem is a neutral thing because it is only a change. The speaker in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” awaits death. To him, death is positive because it is rest. This poem portrays death as a condition of life. It is peaceful and good, something to look forward to. However, it is only when one has finally finished his duties that he may sleep. Death in “Out, Out—,” however, is definitely negative. Death for the boy is terrifying and painful: it is unexpected, unstoppable, and hopeless. Life is fragile and death can quickly take it away. Because these three poems express such different ideas of death, it leads one to think that Frost, although he writes so much about it, is unsure of death himself.

Works Cited 

Frost, Robert. “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Eighth Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2009. 894. Print.

Frost, Robert. "Out, Out—." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Eighth Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2009. 892. Print.

Frost, Robert. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Eighth Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2009. 893-94. Print.
Kushner, Aviya. "Overview of 'Out, Out—'." Poetry for Students. Ed. Michael L. LaBlanc. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Mar. 2011.

            Song: King and Lionheart by Of Monsters and Men
            Quote: "Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid." - Jules Feiffer