Q. Discuss two poems that reflect Frost's ideas about nature.
Frost is above all a poet of nature. I his early works we find the sensors pleasure which nature has given to most modern poets. For him nature is a force that can not be avoided or ignored. The poems, 'Mowing' and 'The Sound of Trees' are two poems which clearly show his interest in the contemplation and observation of nature.
Frost is not merely concerned with depicting a natural scene. H introduces keep strong human emotions into his poems. In the former poem, for instance, the human emotion is curiosity when the persona wants to know what the scythe is whispering. In the latter, the emotion is a sense of restlessness where the persona wants to move away. Thus his characters are influenced by nature that externally represents the internal conflicts and feelings of the personas.
Frost often shows how man is in need of nature, but nature does not need man. Nature can be seen as a mother to man, but can also be indifferent. In 'Mowing' nature is providing the persona with sustenance and in 'The Sound..' the tress are teacher the persona a lesson that like them rooted to the ground he must stay true to his responsibilities. The indifference is seen in 'Mowing' as how the crops do not need man to provide them with sustenance and neither does the snake. In 'The Sound..' the trees may influence the persona but the persona's action or decisions do not effect them, if they were to leave it will make no difference to them but for men it will be difficult to cope without the trees. Thus Frost illustrates the importance of Nature and why man needs it in order to survive.
Frost warns that man should never try to trespass into Nature's pastures. Man must respect the 'wall' between him and nature. although nature is beautiful and comforting it can also be dangerous and mysterious. In 'Mowing' we do not know what the scythe is whispering and why the snake slithered away instead of attacking the persona. In 'The Sound..' we know what the leaves are whispering, that the want to go away, but we do not know where, when or why. Mysteriously, they seem to be reflecting the person's thoughts, as if they know his inner desires. It is also shown in 'There are Roughly Zones' how nature is a disastrous force and how men need to prepare in order to defend against it. We're also shown not to underestimate nature, that unlike man, it has the power to revive itself. We are shown that nature does not hurt nature, man hurts nature even though he should be grateful fo it and when nature fights back man complains about it.
Frost's best poems are concerned with the drama of man in Nature. In 'Mowing' the persona is curious but soon becomes engrossed in his work and then becomes satisfied. In 'The Sound..' the persona is made restless by the trees' whispering and is influenced into making the decision to move on. Both the personas make a different decision, one becomes content while the other, who listened until coming to a conclusion, makes a life-changing decision for the best or for the worst. Frost has perhaps ended up content and has made a decision to move on with life and leave all the troublesome aspects of it behind. From this the readers have learnt to move on as well, to forgive others' mistakes, to learn from the past than to dwell over it, and to live the present contently, while looking forward to the future.