Monday, November 9, 2009
Home Burial
I was amazed to log on and find that no one had said anything about Home Burial. To me it shows a totally new side of Robert Frost. Typically his poetry has to do with nature, at least on the surface, maybe not on a deeper level, but that is beside the point. I hate to admit this, but when I read this poem for the first time to myself I was moved to tears. It's a terrible thing to lose someone, but a child? And to not be able to help someone is worse. This poor man cannot even comfort his own wife... Can you imagine? This poem is so full of emotion and ANGER that it captures a part of your heart. I don't know, I'm a sensitive person, but seriously, how can you not feel something reading this. But my question is, do you think he is more mad at himself, or her? He's obviously angry, but where is the main portion of his anger directed?
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I was actually upset when this wasn't one of the ones that we could discuss in groups. I loved it when we read it in class! The emotional tension between the two characters is almost tangible, which makes the experience so much more real. The reason I usually prefer prose to poetry is that poetry can neglect true interaction between different beings and still be meaningful, while much prose depends on communication through dialogue. "Home Burial" does not lose any of its poetic essence by including dialogue: rather, it is enhanced by this development.
ReplyDeleteI think that he is definitely more angry at himself. His reaction doesn't exactly lead me to believ that he's just angry, either, but frustrated at the situation itself. He's angry taht she's trying to leave, but also aggravated that his efforts are coming to nothing. He changes tactics in the conversation, and so he is clearly taking her reactions into consideration. If he only cared about getting his way, he would have threatened to use force from the beginning. Because of his uncertainty and frustration, I see his conflict mainly being an internal one.
I was fascinated with the intensity and tension in this poem, but also by the style with which Frost writes. I feel like we are almost watching a play instead of reading poetry, because every piece of dialogue is given with an action, which adds more to the purpose and main idea of what the characters are saying. Instead of simply saying something to his wife, the husband "mounts" the stairs to tower above her as he directs accusations. We are able to watch this scene, instead of listen to pure dialogue. Maybe I'm wrong but I found this very different from other poems Frost has written.
ReplyDeleteI think that the husband has clearly lost all sense of balance and control due to the mental stress and pain of losing a child. He illogical threats claiming that he'll take his wife back by force if she leaves, not understanding that that is not very persusive. I also think he turns so quickly to anger because of fear. He is afraid of being alone and abandoned by not only his child, but now his wife too. I do think he grieves the loss of his child because he might cope and mourn in a different way than his wife.
I don't think he's angry, really. At least, not at the beginning. At first he's trying to be comforting to his wife and then upset when she pushes him away. He doesn't really succumb to anger until the end of the poem where she'll all ready to leave the house. He feels as if there's no other choice than to be angry and, like Mr. Bruno said, bring her back by force.
ReplyDeleteThe husband is stuck in a position that no matter what he does or says will result in loss. The problem he is trying to fix is within himself, but he sees it as an external conflict. Once he realizes or is able to change his internal state then that's when the external objectives will be accomplished as well.
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