Topic > General Feature of the Birch Poem which is equally different from what we call knowing it. (GEORGE ELIOT, Middlemarch) The poem “Birches”, written by Robert Frost, is a very complex literary piece focused on the concept of life. This particular writing is full of figurative devices that force the reader to see the poetry beyond the words. Through a creative structure, Frost recreates an end-of-life experience, which exposes conflicting themes using many different literacy devices. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Frost begins by providing the central image of the poem letting the reader know exactly what is about to happen. The style of “Betulle” is free verse with numerous variations on the prevailing iambic foot. Although visually, the poem does not have more than one selection, it is divided into five different sections based on changes in the topic and the ideas of the speaker. These interruptions do not immediately catch the reader's eye. Instead, they, along with the speaker's beliefs, depend on the reader developing a strong understanding of the poem. The poem begins by giving the reader background information until the fifth line, when it precedes the truth. This truth later turns into fiction due to the paradox. It is then followed by what is (initially) fiction. Next, Frost conveys reality to the reader and connects the speaker to the previous lines, followed by a resolution of how the speaker feels. Frost uses extreme use of contrast because the speakers Frost describes in his poem are forced to choose between rationality and imagination, and the two cannot exist at the same time. The title “Birches” introduces the reader to the dominant metaphor. For the speaker, birch trees have a symbolic representation of his childhood and are known to him as a way to return to being a “birch swinger” (Frost, 42). He literally uses devices to explain the metaphor of control throughout the poem. Frost presents the speaker as conflicted with the title, because the speaker wants to use the birch trees to return to his childhood, as his life up until that point has been very lonely and terrible. This is the first thing we learn about the speaker through poetic devices, but it is only the beginning of the poem. Without Frost's direct indication, the reader is able to understand that the speaker in this poem is an older man. Frost gives the reader the information to assume that, by having the speaker say, “So once I was a birch swinger too; and so I dream of being again” (Frost, 41 and 42) which reveals to the reader that the speaker is older because “a birch swinger” (Frost, 41) is described as a young boy, thus revealing the speaker's gender. The old man has not lived a happy life and is full of regrets, constantly dreaming of being able to live his life again. Not only did he have a poor childhood "whose only game was what he found" (Frost, 26), but he also lived the rest of his life alone "a boy too far from the city to learn baseball" (Frost , 25). … “He could play alone” (Frost, 27) and without love. Through further guidance from the poem we discover that this man also has internal battles that he has faced on top of everything else and through paradox this conflicted state of his mind is revealed. As stated earlier in the first section of "Birches", basic information is given, because the reader needs it to properly understand the rest of thepoetry. “I see the birches bending left and right” (Frost, 1) is an example of visual imagery, followed by an example of a “darker trees” symbol (Frost, 2). The first section also provides us with two sets of opposites"left and right" (Frost, 1) and "bend...straighter" (Frost, 1-2) which are used along with the rest of this section to provide the reader with main conflict in the speaker's life. This section is also contrasting because it looks at a picture and speculates on why the trees are bent, one is the truth and one is what the speaker wishes the truth was. Not only are these the beginning of the many literacy tools used, but they also bring us to the paradox. The second section of the poem is the beginning of the paradox. Frost begins by giving us the truth about why trees are bent by saying "But the sway doesn't bend them to stay / As ice storms do..." (Frost, 4-5) but we later learn that it is so called truth really turns into fiction. In this section we can experience many examples of imagery, from sound when talking about how tree branches “click on themselves” (Frost, 7) to sexual imagery when the speaker uses the words “like girls on hands and knees they throw their hair in front of them, on top of their heads, to dry in the sun" (Frost, 19-20). This is an example of sexual imagery that he uses in the poem when describing an intimate experience, because it is something that he has never gotten to experience in his life. We also see Frost use devices such as onomatopoeia when he uses the words "cracks and crazes" (Frost, 9), and a simile when he compares trees to "girls on their hands and knees" (Frost 19). This section, like the rest of the poem, is full of literacy tools. The capitalization on the word “Truth” (Frost, 21) shows the reader the difference between what is actually happening versus what is happening in the speaker's head and also represents personification. “With all its matter-of-factness about ice storms” (Frost, 22) is an example of dramatic language. In this third section of the poem the reader also sees the first time the speaker is talking to someone and asking "now am I free to be poetic?" (Frost, 23) which is the last information we get before the paradox. The reader learns that the "truth" of this poem is very imaginative to the speaker and may actually believe that there is a capital "T" in the truth (or a truth hidden in everything). The tone of the poem is also revealed because we see that the speaker doesn't like reality and doesn't want to believe the truth at all. When the speaker says “with all his concreteness” (Frost, 22) he is being sarcastic and this shows that he has a negative/angry tone towards everything. Once again Frost has taken every opportunity to use literacy tools in this section. Fiction is what we are given next in section four, but this quickly turns into truth in the paradox of the poem. When the speaker sees the bent trees, even when he knows the "truth" (Frost, 21) as to why they are bent, he continues to believe that a little boy swinging on them is what made them bend. Sexual imagery is used again and when the speaker says "riding them again and again until he took away the stiffness, and not one but remained inert" (Frost, 30-33) which although he seems to be talking about the trees, is metaphorical, a description of the masturbation. An allegory is also used in lines twenty-four to twenty-eight because the words “one…not” (Frost, 32) are used four times. The speaker uses this tense to describe his life as a boy, which, we learn, was a very unsatisfying youth. When he says "learn not to jump in too soon" (Frost, 34) he isn't really talking about the boyin the trees, but he's actually talking about living life to the fullest, which he hasn't done. This leads the reader to many regrets and wishes more than anything to be able to go back and relive his life, this time filled with love, but due to his religion that wish is shattered when he knows that is not possible for him. return to earth again, but is also worried that heaven cannot provide him with love. Furthermore, Assonance is visible through the word “swish” (Frost, 40) some of the final lines of this section (lines thirty-six to thirty-nine) show not just a comparison but also a metaphor. Once again the reader is amazed by the use of literacy tools. Section five is where the paradox is revealed to the reader along with the summary of the speaker's thoughts before its final resolution. This is the only part of the entire structure that has a break before representing a transition. This section begins by revealing the paradox “so I too was once a birch swinger; and so I dream of being again” (Frost, 42-43) which turns the entire structure of the poem into a great opposite and forces sections two and four to exchange meanings and leaves the reader with questions about the truth? The dominant metaphor is also in this section: “I am tired of considerations, and life is too much like a pathless forest” (Frost 44-45). Along with all the other imagery, Frost uses tactile imagery, so the reader can feel "your face burns and tickles the broken cobwebs on it, and one eye weeps because a twig has opened it" (Frost, 46-48) Also fate and religions are revealed to the reader by Frost in this section. Not only does the reader know that the speaker is a Christian based on the previous mention of the “dome of heaven” (Frost, 13), but now the reader knows about reincarnation through “may no fate willfully misunderstand me and grant me half what I desire and take me away so as not to return” (Frost, 51-52) but he wants to believe that he can leave the earth and then return again to live another life. Paganism (also known as mythology) is now also visible in “Birches” due to the speaker's anger against Destiny, the job of the three fates is to determine the way your life goes, and even when the speaker he knows that if you yell at him it will make your life horrible, he keeps yelling at him. Frost not only uses literacy tools, but also uses other tools to create another excellent poem. The speaker comes to a resolution in the final section of "Birches" by finally accepting the fact that he will die and will not be able to return to live another life. . It summarizes all his previous thoughts and condenses the entire poem and the theme which is to live life to the fullest because otherwise in the end you will only be full of regrets, even if you live life to the fullest and get something wrong it will be better than not taking the chance and things can always get worse. The word “towards” (Frost, 47), also in italics, indicates that he went towards the sky but never reached it because the tree could no longer hold. This entire part of the poem is an example of thematic imagery because it provides the reader with an image that relates to the theme (metaphor) of the entire poem. An example of analogy is also present from Frost who uses the words “climbing a birch tree” (Frost, 55) and when he uses “swinger of birch trees” (Frost, 60) this represents repetition because it is used over and over again throughout the poem. The penultimate line of the poem says “it would be good both to go and to return” (Frost, 58-59) shows that although he has to go and leave the earth for a while, he needs to return to be complete. The tree is a perfect analogue for the speaker to explain his feelings and a solution because the tree is rooted in the ground and also when the tree..
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