Critical Archive

Critical Overview

Much of the discussion of Frost's poetry over time has been argumentitive. Some critics assert that despite his technical conservatism, Frost is a modernist poet. Others claim that he is a more serious and complex writer than his popularity and subject matter would suggest, that there is a darker and more disturbing quality to his view of life than is generally assumed. Some biographers find him a monster of egotism; others find him a humane and dedicated artist.

X. J. Kennedy (left) and poet Claire McAllister with Robert Frost at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, August 1960

A student writing on Frost need not be concerned with these earlier critical battles. Frost's poems are both rich in meaning and suggestively ambiguous. Most of them respond to a variety of critical approaches. Here are some possible perspectives to analyze Frost's work.

Formalist Criticism:

Frost's "Acquainted with the Night," "Design" (and its earlier version, "In White"), "Never Again Would Birds' Song Be the Same," and "The Silken Tent" are all sonnets. A poetic form, such as the sonnet, is expected to follow traditional patterns of rhyme and meter. In formalist criticism, one considers the ways in which Frost deviates from or adheres to these traditions. Why do you think Frost chose to write these poems as sonnets, and not others?

Biographical Criticism:

Given the specifics of Frost's life, especially his family relationships, the biographical approach can be used to illuminate aspects of such poems as "Acquainted with the Night," "Desert Places," "The Silken Tent," and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Do the situations in these poems suggest any connections with Frost's own life?

Mythological Criticism:

Frost seems on the surface to be a plainspoken spinner of homely tales, but deeper levels of meaning may be discovered through the application of the mythological approach to "Birches," "Design," and "Mending Wall." "Nothing Gold Can Stay," for example, can be viewed in relation to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis.

Other Critical Approaches:

Accusations of inhumanity on the part of the boy's family or even of Frost have been directed from time to time at "'Out, Out—.'" Through a combination of the historical and sociological (to locate the poem in its proper context) and psychological (to get beneath the surface of the characters' responses) approaches, a reader might consider whether such accusations are justified or not.

Many people, identifying with what they assume to be the speaker's sense of himself, see "The Road Not Taken" as an anthem of rugged individuality. Through careful reading of the text, one might, using a reader-response approach, consider how valid such an interpretation is.

Critical Articles

Literary critics revel in the abundance of metaphor, meaning, and technical mastery found in Frost's poetry. Here is a sampling of the critical articles available on Frost and his work.

Excerpts from "Robert Frost Overheard" by X. J. Kennedy (1996)

A personal account of meeting the venerable Robert Frost in 1960 at Bread Loaf (a famous writer's conference in Vermont), and of hearing Frost read again less than a year before his death.

From Some Necessary Angels: Essays on Writing and Politics by Jay Parini (Columbia University Press, 1997)

An uncommon interpretation of "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

"The Enduring Robert Frost" by Samuel Maio (The Formalist, 1990)

A formalist look at Frost as a "notable craftsman"

"'On Nothing Gold Can Stay'" by Dana Gioia (2001)

An in-depth analysis of one of Frost's best-known poems

Additional Resources: The Bibliography includes an extended list of writings about Robert Frost. Continue your Web Explorations by visiting Frost Links.