Theme Analysis of Four of Robert Frost Poems Through Diction.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya menganalisis tema dari empat puisi Robert Lee Frost yang berjudul “The Road Not Taken”, “Stopping By Woods on a

Snowy Evening”, “Two Tramps In a Mud Time”, dan “The Trial by Existence”

melalui pilihan kata. Keempat puisi tersebut menggambarkan berbagai pilihan yang berkaitan erat dengan kehidupan manusia, dan diungkapkan oleh Robert Frost melalui berbagai pilihan kata dan salah satunya kata-kata yang berhubungan dengan alam.

Puisi yang berjudul “The Road Not Taken” memiliki tema “Seseorang

harus menerima konsekuensi dari setiap keputusan yang sudah dibuat.” Puisi yang

berjudul “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” memiliki tema “Seseorang

harus bertanggung jawab untuk setiap keputusan yang sudah dibuat.” Puisi yang

berjudul “Two Tramps in a Mud Time” memiliki tema “Keputusan seseorang

untuk memiliki keseimbangan antara kebutuhan dan kesenangan akan berdampak pada kebahagiaan seseorang.” Puisi yang berjudul “The Trial by Existence”

memiliki tema “Seseorang harus membuat keputusan untuk menentukan

kehidupannya.” Melalui kata-kata yang digunakan dalam puisi tersebut, Robert

Frost berhasil menyampaikan pesan mengenai pentingnya sebuah pilihan yang diambil oleh seseorang.

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APPENDICES

Robert Frost’s Poems

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5 Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same, 10 And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back. 15 I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by,

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Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer 5 To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake. 10 The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep,

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Two Tramps in Mud Time Out of the mud two strangers came

And caught me splitting wood in the yard, And one of them put me off my aim By hailing cheerily "Hit them hard!"

I knew pretty well why he had dropped behind 5 And let the other go on a way.

I knew pretty well what he had in mind: He wanted to take my job for pay.

Good blocks of oak it was I split,

As large around as the chopping block; 10 And every piece I squarely hit

Fell splinterless as a cloven rock. The blows that a life of self-control Spares to strike for the common good,

That day, giving a loose to my soul, 15 I spent on the unimportant wood.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day When the sun is out and the wind is still,

You're one month on in the middle of May. 20 But if you so much as dare to speak,

A cloud comes over the sunlit arch, A wind comes off a frozen peak,

And you're two months back in the middle of March. A bluebird comes tenderly up to alight 25 And turns to the wind to unruffle a plume,

His song so pitched as not to excite A single flower as yet to bloom. It is snowing a flake; and he half knew

Winter was only playing possum. 30

Except in color he isn't blue,

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The water for which we may have to look In summertime with a witching wand,

In every wheelrut's now a brook, 35

In every print of a hoof a pond. Be glad of water, but don't forget The lurking frost in the earth beneath That will steal forth after the sun is set

And show on the water its crystal teeth. 40 The time when most I loved my task

The two must make me love it more By coming with what they came to ask. You'd think I never had felt before

The weight of an ax-head poised aloft, 45 The grip of earth on outspread feet,

The life of muscles rocking soft And smooth and moist in vernal heat. Out of the wood two hulking tramps

(From sleeping God knows where last night, 50 But not long since in the lumber camps).

They thought all chopping was theirs of right. Men of the woods and lumberjacks,

They judged me by their appropriate tool.

Except as a fellow handled an ax 55

They had no way of knowing a fool. Nothing on either side was said.

They knew they had but to stay their stay And all their logic would fill my head:

As that I had no right to play 60

With what was another man's work for gain. My right might be love but theirs was need. And where the two exist in twain

Theirs was the better right--agreed.

But yield who will to their separation, 65 My object in living is to unite

My avocation and my vocation As my two eyes make one in sight. Only where love and need are one,

And the work is play for mortal stakes, 70 Is the deed ever really done

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The Trial by Existence Even the bravest that are slain Shall not dissemble their surprise On waking to find valor reign, Even as on earth, in paradise;

And where they sought without the sword 5 Wide fields of asphodel fore'er,

To find that the utmost reward Of daring should be still to dare.

The light of heaven falls whole and white

And is not shattered into dyes, 10

The light forever is morning light; The hills are verdured pasture-wise; The angle hosts with freshness go, And seek with laughter what to brave;--

And binding all is the hushed snow 15

Of the far-distant breaking wave. And from a cliff-top is proclaimed The gathering of the souls for birth, The trial by existence named,

The obscuration upon earth. 20

And the slant spirits trooping by

In streams and cross- and counter-streams Can but give ear to that sweet cry

For its suggestion of what dreams!

And the more loitering are turned 25

To view once more the sacrifice Of those who for some good discerned Will gladly give up paradise.

And a white shimmering concourse rolls

Toward the throne to witness there 30

The speeding of devoted souls Which God makes his especial care. And none are taken but who will, Having first heard the life read out

That opens earthward, good and ill, 35 Beyond the shadow of a doubt;

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But naught extenuates or dims,

Setting the thing that is supreme. 40

Nor is there wanting in the press Some spirit to stand simply forth, Heroic in it nakedness,

Against the uttermost of earth.

The tale of earth's unhonored things 45 Sounds nobler there than 'neath the sun;

And the mind whirls and the heart sings, And a shout greets the daring one. But always God speaks at the end:

'One thought in agony of strife 50

The bravest would have by for friend, The memory that he chose the life; But the pure fate to which you go Admits no memory of choice,

Or the woe were not earthly woe 55

To which you give the assenting voice.' And so the choice must be again, But the last choice is still the same; And the awe passes wonder then,

And a hush falls for all acclaim. 60

And God has taken a flower of gold And broken it, and used therefrom The mystic link to bind and hold Spirit to matter till death come.

'Tis of the essence of life here, 65

Though we choose greatly, still to lack The lasting memory at all clear,

That life has for us on the wrack Nothing but what we somehow chose;

Thus are we wholly stripped of pride 70 In the pain that has but one close,

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Biography of Robert Lee Frost

Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California.

His father died when Frost was eleven years old. After his father’s death, Frost’s

Scottish mother worked as a school teacher to help her family financial condition. Frost and his mother lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Robert Frost was a student at Darthmouth College and Harvard. After he graduated from college, he worked in a textile mill and he also taught Latin. In 1894, Frost wrote his first poem. The poem was entitled “My Butterfly” and was published

at the “New York Independent”.

He also wrote another five poems but they were unpublished. In 1913, Frost published his first collection of poems entitled A Boy’s Will, and then a year later he also published North of Boston. This poem collection contains some of Frost's

best-known poems: “Mending Wall”, “The Death of the Hired Man,” “Home Burial”, “A

Servant to Servants”, “After Apple-Picking”, and “The Wood-Pile.” All of Robert

Frost’s poems are written in blank verse or free verse of dialogues. Moreover, the

poems were drawn from his own life. He uses images of woods, stars, houses in his poems.

Frost died in Boston on January 29, 1963, yet he is still considered as the best American poet. Frost’s works have gained international reputation, and he had received Pulitzer Prize four times for his works. Frost's poems show deep appreciation of natural world and sensibility about the human aspirations.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Robert Lee Frost is an American poet whose “poems show deep appreciation

of natural world and sensibility about the human aspirations. His images of woods, stars, houses and brooks are usually taken from everyday life. Often, Frost uses

rhythms and vocabulary of ordinary speech” (“Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963)”). The

strength of his poems is that his poems “seem to be mere translation of everyday

events into poetry” (“New England characteristics in Robert Frost’s poetry”).

Robert Frost’s poems come mostly from his life experiences and the influence

of living in New England. His poems are also “very natural in its wording, using

words that most people understand and that make his poetry seem practical and

ordinary” (“New England characteristics in Robert Frost’s poetry”). Even though his

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Most of Frost’s poems are related to nature, which is defined as “all the

plants, animals and things that exist in the universe and are not made by people” (Hornby 285). Through nature, Frost shows that whatever choice that one has made, one should be ready for the consequences of his or her decision. By paying close attention to diction related to nature, I am going to analyze Frost’s poems that

concern people’s choices in life. Four of Robert Frost’s poems that I am going to

analyze in my thesis are: “The Road Not Taken”, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy

Evening”, “Two Tramps in Mud Time”, and “The Trial by Existence.”

The themes of Frost’s four poems are closely related to choices. Reaske states

that theme is “the central concept developed in a poem” (42). I will analyze the

themes of Frost’s poems through diction, one of poetic devices, which is defined as

“language, vocabulary, phraseology, phrasing, style” (Webster’s Dictionary of

Synonyms 240).

Statement of the Problem

1. What is the theme of each poem? 2. How is the theme revealed?

Purpose of the Study

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Method of Research

I use library research in writing my thesis. Firstly, I read the poems that I have chosen. After that, I analyze these poems through diction. And then, I search for references from books and Internet websites. In the end, I make conclusion for my thesis.

Organization of the Thesis

I divide my thesis into three parts, proceeded by the Acknowledgements, the Abstract, and the Table of Content. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research and the Organization of the Thesis. Chapter Two is the Analysis

of Theme of Four of Robert Frost’s Poems through Diction. Chapter Three is the

Conclusion. The thesis ends with Bibliography and Appendices, which contains

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, I am going to draw a conclusion on my analysis of four of Robert Frost’s poems revealed through diction. Four of Robert Frost’s poems that I

have analyzed in the previous chapter are: “The Road Not Taken”, “Stopping By

Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “Two Tramps in Mud Time”, and “The Trial by

Existence.”

The theme of “The Road Not Taken” is “One has to bear consequences to

every decision that one has made”, and it is revealed through words, such as “wood” and “grassy”. The narrator faces two roads in the middle of his or her journey. S/he is

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which s/he loses the opportunity of going through the first road.

The theme of “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” is “One has to be

responsible for every choice that one makes”, and it is revealed through words, such as “woods”, “snow”, “frozen lake”, and “downy flake”. The narrator chooses to stop

in the woods to watch the beauty of the woods, which is lovely, dark, and deep. The temptation comes when the narrator chooses to stop in the woods. The narrator has to choose whether to stay in the woods, where s/he can enjoy the lovely scene or to continue his or her journey. In the end, the narrator is aware of his or her responsibility and chooses to continue his or her journey.

The theme of “Two Tramps in Mud Time” is “One has to make choices to be

happy.” and hobby might result in one’s happiness in life”, and it is revealed through

words, such as “mud”, “wood”, and “sun”. The poem was written at the time of Great Depression, when people were desperate due to their financial problems. I believe the narrator has gone through several difficulties of making decision. The narrator feels that he has passion in doing his job, and that it is the source of his happiness, so he does not want to give up his job to the lumberjacks that work for pay. However, the narrator finally changes his mind. He agrees that need, which refers to paid work, should supersede play, which is loved hobby. After the narrator makes a choice to balance between love and need, s/he reaches happiness in life.

The theme of “Trial by Existence” is “One has to make one’s own choice to

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In the poem, the soul has to choose and bear with the consequences. The choice is ultimate for the soul as it determines his or her own fate. The soul who chooses to come to earth will be able to enjoy the essence of life, which means making a choice that will determine one’s future.

In my opinion, Frost is successful in presenting the issue of choices in life. Four of Robert Frost’s poems that I have chosen to analyze in my thesis are very

inspiring and make one become aware of how one’s choice is able to impact one’s

life. I agree with the idea how Frost delivers the message about choices in one’s life. For example, in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”, Frost successfully

conveys the message when the narrator chooses to stop in the woods. In addition, I believe one’s daily life is closely related to nature, which is the reason why some of the words used by Frost in his poem are related to nature. I can easily find words related to nature in “The Road Not Taken” such as “yellow”, “wood”, and then in “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” such as “woods”, “snow”, then in “Two

Tramps in Mud Time” such as “wind”, “sun” and then in “The Trial by Existence”

such as “earth”, “fields”.

Of all four of Robert Frost’s poems that I have analyzed, my favorite is “The

Road Not Taken”. I am able to relate with the idea that in life, one always faces more

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Bibliography

Primary text(s):

Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Poets from the Academy of American Poets. 2010. 3 Oct. 2010.

<http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15717>

Frost, Robert. “The Trial by Existence.” Poetry Archives. 2008. 3 Oct. 2010. <http://www.emule.com/poetry/?page=poem&poem=4650>

Frost, Robert. “Two Tramps in Mud Time.” American Poems. 2009. 3 Oct 2010.

<http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/robertfrost/772>

Frost, Robert. “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” Poetry Foundation. 2010. 3 Oct 2010.

<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171621>

Reference(s):

Hornby, AS. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

Reaske, Christopher Russel. How to Analyze Poetry. New York: Monarch Pres, 1996.

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Internet website(s):

“New England Characteristics in Robert Frost’s Poetry.” 2001. 20 Apr. 2001.

<http://everything2.com/title/New+England+Characteristics+in+Robert+Frost %2527s+Poetry>

“Robert (Lee) Frost (1874-1963): Biography.” Poetry Foundation. 2010. 20 Apr. 2010.

< http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rfrost.htm>