How Does Robert Frost Connect Nature to Human Situations in His Poems?

Answer

How does Robert Frost connect nature to human situations in his poems?

Or Frost’s treatment of nature.

Or, Evaluate Robert Frost as a poet of nature.

From a study of the characteristics of his poetry, we can form an idea about Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) as a poet of nature. He is different in his attitude towards nature from most nature poets like Wordsworth, Coleridge, or Keats. He shows abundant evidence for us to regard him as a poet of nature. 

Various Moods of Nature: Robert Frost is a poet of nature. He mentions not only the single mood of nature but also the different moods of nature. There is hardly any poem of Frost that does not declare several moods of nature. His poems in “North of Boston” are especially packed with sundry moods of nature. Through the moods of nature, Frost mainly represents different kinds of dramatic incidents in human life.  John F. Lynen says, 

Even in Frost’s most cheerful sketches, there is always a bitter-sweet quality. 

From this remark, we get that Frost’s natural depiction is versatile. 

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees.

The above lines mean that plants are normal when nature is calm, But when there is a storm in nature, the tree has to endure many storms of nature.

Local and Regional Poet of Nature: Frost is considered a poet of the local and regional poet of nature. His poems depict local and regional natural features. His descriptive style is the most surprising in his poetry. The snow, the twisted trees, and the fog in the valley are depicted in simple and fluent language. But it brings a great experience to readers universally. He never describes nature as a spectacle only. In the poem “Birches,” Frost depicts the birch trees upholding their habit and how they meet a storm. 

Nature as a Symbol of Man’s Revelation: The casual reader of Robert Frost‘s poetry may think that Frost is a poet of nature in the tradition of Wordsworth. In a sense, nature is his subject matter, but it is never a local common inspiration for Frost.His best poetry is concerned with the drama of man in nature. On the other hand, Wordsworth is generally best for emotionally displaying the wide scene or panorama of the natural world. Once, Frost himself said in a television interview,

I guess I am not a nature poet.” He said later “I have only two poems without a human being in them.

Frost’s conception of the natural world concerns man’s relation to nature. In this sense, the poet means to say that the natural world is the revelation of man because different senses of nature are the symbolic meaning of human society and nature. 

Life is too much like a pathless wood.

By this line of the poem “Birches,” Frost has a unique insight into man’s revelation with nature. 

Nature as Both Threat and Comfort: No other poet in the history of English literature is as illustrious as Frost because he treats nature as both a threat and a comfort. Nature is the mother and home of man, but it is simultaneously utterly indifferent and even hostile to him. The readers get panoramas or wide scenes of nature in his poems, such as dark woods, beaches, stars, frozen brooks, and lakes, which are sometimes comfortable and a matter of fear. In the poem “Tree at My Window,” nature is sensational, but symbolically, it expresses the menace of human nature.  Poet says

But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,

And if you have seen me when I slept,

You have seen me when I was taken and swept.

We can also find out some other points. 

• Similarity and dissimilarity with Wordsworth 
• Frost as a poet of nature in a cavalier fashion 
• Ambivalent attitude to nature, and so on. 

Finally, it can be said that Frost is a poet of nature. He not only described the beauty of nature but also highlighted issues related to society and human nature, resulting in him being called a poet of nature.