whitsun wedding :: essays research papers

Frosts numbers is melancholy and nostalgic in life and soothing, almost hypnotic, in calendar method. Peaceful and serene in the natural scene it describes, it seems to sway betwixt restful repose and death. Sleep and death, and a seeming longing for both, be evoked by the images of night, long travel, winter and isolation. The simple, formulaic phrasing and rhythm of the poem belie something hidden, beneath and in the past, which is much complex. Frost, differently from Haydens save verse, uses the formal structure and rhythm of his verse in juxtaposition to the more troubling, less controll equal to(p), undercurrent of death. The nervous horse, keenly attune to its environment and master, is set to the easy flow of the poem and the falsely assuring repetition of the brave line. Similarly the juxtaposition of lovely with dark and deep woods (like a grave) is unsettling.The tone of the poem starts off comical and almost light-hearted- a beat dancing in a recklessly with hi s son, knocking over pots and pans. But the son clings onto his father like "death" while the mother is clearly discontented with the situation. "whisky on your breath could make a small boy empty-headed" connotes excess, a situation beyond acceptable limits - too much for the boy and too much for his mother. The verse jerks back and forth in tone and imagery from movements of dance, to battered movements. Waltzing and beating time are juxtaposed to a tight stick out on the wrist, battered knuckle and scraped ear. Lightness and humor change to jeering and a critical edge. Like Frost, Roethke uses the rhythm of his verse to carry the contributor along, like a waltz, but one that becomes increasingly dizzying as the proofreader realizes the confusion, even terror, the child tone of voices. The childs reference to his father as you helps the reader feel the emotions more immediately and drives home the physical closeness of father and child. It in like manner en forces a tone that is almost accusatory.Haydens poem moves from a description of the father, to the language "I" of his young son, to the matured recognition and remorse of the now expectant poet. The shattering paradox of a laboring father who warms the house and polishes his sons pricy shoes but is greeted with indifference is not lost on the reader. Yet, the heart and soul demonstrated by the father is through the provision of physical console (survival) and the son seems to yearn for something more, or at least is not able to see the affection demonstrated in his fathers labors.