Introduction
The debate on Frost being a poet of Nature or not has always been trending among many scholars and critics. There are critics like Alvarez who do not like to call Frost a poet of Nature but a poet of country life. Robert Frost also seems to adhere to that critic's opinion, states he, in a TV interview,
I guess I am not a nature-poet. I have written only two poems without a human-being in them.
But we also have a critic who asserts that Frost has so many excellent poems on Nature and wildlife that "one can hardly avoid thinking of him as a nature-poet." (John F Lynen)
Frost's interpretation of Nature does not fall in the definition of the Wordsworth but it is unique and fits to every possible corner of natural beauty.
Frost loves Nature all the Time
Frost's love of nature is comprehensive and many-sided as compared to Wordsworth, who felt contented to paint the blooms during the "Spring season". Coleridge terms such 'limitation' as 'Nature in the grove'. Frost captures Nature and its beauty in all season. He is not limited by the pleasant moments and places of Nature. He paints barren, hard, rough and the sinister side of Nature as well.
His flowers, trees and animals are all described with affection, yet none of the nature-poems is free from the hints of possible danger. Says John F Lynen
For example, the poem Spring Pools starts with a beautiful description of a cluster of flowers but then Frost asserts the impact of larger plants to those flowers in an alarming tone,
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds
To darken nature and be summer woods---
Let them think twice before they use their powers
To blot out and drink up and sweep away
These flowery waters and these watery flowers
From snow that melted only yesterday.
So it is evident that Frost presents Nature as a beneficial and depriving force.
Frost Personifies Nature
Frost personifies Nature and gives her an ability to act like living-beings not in a way Wordsworth achieved. Wordsworth's personification of Nature was marked by its sadness but Frost calls her humorously and warns her against any possible danger. He says to his garden,
Watch out for the rabbits, deer and grouse; they will eat you.
And if the sun gets too hot before proper season, you won't be bearing next summer.
In this example, the word 'you' serves for personification and 'eat', 'next summer' create a humorous effect.
Frost makes Man Standout from Nature
Wordsworth constituted Man and Nature equally in his genius but Frost creates a distinguishing point between the two. Frost accepts and asserts the superiority of Man over Nature. Nature has to bear only outer conflicts like the harshness of weather, burning sunlight, fast blowing winds or cold nights. But a human as to bear both outer and inner conflicts. The outer conflicts of bad weather or another person forcing him to do a certain task and the inner conflict of mind, mental agony or self-meditation which a tree cannot even think of. Frost strikes the difference between Man and Nature in Tree at my Window as below,
That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.
It is also noteworthy that Frost makes Man admire Nature but not enchanted by it beauty. Frost recalls Man to be back on his duties which are filled with inner and outer conflicts,
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Conclusion
Robert Frost is a true poet of Nature. His genius fulfils the basics of being a Natural genius. His approach to Nature is distinctive, realistic and meaningful.
References and Suggested Readings
- Robert Frost - Selected Poems - Famous Production - 1995 Edition - Pages 28 - 35
- Lectures of Sir Khalil Ur Rehman
- https://rajyagururavi24.blogspot.com/2016/11/robert-frost-as-nature-poet.html
- https://englishliterature24.blogspot.com/2018/02/discuss-robert-frost-as-poet-of-nature.html
- http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-optional-subjects/group-v/english-literature/236-frosts-treatment-nature.html
