Frost Commentary: An Old Mans Winter Night Quotes Commentary

Alicia Wei

1. What is the key subject of the poem? If there is more than one, is there a relationship between them? The key subject of the poem is the old man. The old man furthers the theme of futility through his life as a singularity. In doing so, Frost emphasizes that what life is futile because we are only going to get old and watch those around us fade away as we ourselves are left to fend for ourselves. The old man has an interesting relationship with nature. It seems as if nature is glaring in at him constantly, yet the old man remains oblivious to the ongoing of nature. The next key subject of the poem is nature. Nature is constant, it is throughout the entire poem. Ironically, the old man does not seem to recognize or even notice nature. Natures presence serves as a reminder throughout the poem that we all will ultimately succumb to nature as we grow old, just as the old man is slowly fading into that of natures domain. The relationship between the old man and nature seems to be more one-sided. Nature can see the old man clearly through the window. However, the old man fails to see nature and continues with his life. However, as the old man falls a sleep, his relationship with nature seems to become stronger because as the log shifted, so did the old man. This creates a sense that although the man has no connection with nature whilst awake, when he is asleep, he has more of a connection than first expressed in the beginning by the speaker.

He stood with barrels round him (line 8)

Of trees and crack of branches (line13)

A farm, a countryside, or if he can,/ Its thus he does it of a winter night (lines 27-28)

5. What use of sound is used by the poet?

Frost Commentary: An Old Mans Winter Night

Alicia Wei

In clomping there, he scared it again/ In clomping off - - and scared the outer night (lines 10-11)

The poet uses the sound of someone walking above hollow ground. I feel that this emphasizes the impending death of the old man because the clomping sounds like he is walking above hallow ground, perhaps a grave, or even a coffin. Through this reasoning, we can see that nature is not death. Rather, because of the clomping the old man is making, he is signifying that he will die soon and nature decides to flee because it is mostly represented through the archetype of nature that generally shows life instead of death. Frost furthers the use of sound through synecdoche. In the middle sentences, it seems as if the old man is trudging closer and closer with death. This quote, seems to convey the old man being buried alive inside a coffin and attempting to escape, leading to the beating sounds in the box. The use of the beating sound creates a sense of for boding within the reader and foreshadows the death of the old man.

But nothing so like beating on a box (line 12)

Here, Frost uses sound to show the might of nature. Frost draws a parallel between nature and the animals that inhabit it by giving the trees and branches an animalistic nature. This Which has its sounds, familiar, like the roar further emphasizes the might of nature (even of trees and crack of branches, common thing though the old man does not realize this). This (lines 12-13) then emphasizes the theme of futility because there is no point in attempting to survive and live a long life if nature is ultimately going to take over in the end. 15. What is the relationship between the speaker and the landscape (or something else specific to the poem)?

Frost Commentary: An Old Mans Winter Night

Alicia Wei

All out of doors looked darkly in at him/ Through the thin frost, almost in separate stars (lines 1-2)

The speakers relationship between nature within the poem is lopsided. As it is shown through the first few lines of the poem, nature can see the old man clearly through the window. however, the old man fails to recognize that nature is watching his every move. This creates an off balance relationship between nature and the old man. Furthermore, the old mans interaction with nature is further separated by the lamp that he carries. Because the lamp is a man made object, it blocks the apparent connection between the old man and nature, shrouding the old man in its own light. Instead, light within the poem behaves more of an inverted archetype for light. Instead of showing the old man the pathway or nature truthfully, the first involvement between the old man and light seams more to be hiding the fundamental truth (nature) instead. Towards the end of the poem, the old man becomes one of nature as he sleeps. We see this through the parallel drawn between the old man and the log. When the log shifted in the hearth, the old man also shifted, as though he felt the change in nature.

What kept his eyes from giving back the gaze/ Was the lamp tilted near them in his hand (lines 4-5)

The log that shifted with a jolt/ Once in the stove, disturbed him and he shifted (lines 23-24)

18. In what ways and to what effect does the poem use comparison? Frost uses a juxtaposition between light and dark within the poem to emphasize the lack of mans understanding and connection with nature. The juxtaposition between the light and the dark ultimately creates a sense of forces of nature working against each other, creating a form of impasse in the poem. However when the old man sleeps, this impasse disappears.

A quiet light, and then not even that./ He consigned to the moon (line 17-18)

Frost Commentary: An Old Mans Winter Night

Alicia Wei

Brought him to that creaking room was age./ He stood with barrels around him - - at a loss (lines 6-7)

Frost also uses the paired imagery between intellect and ignorance within the poem. The old man seems to have gotten to a point in his life where he does not have anyone around him or have the acuity of the mind to remember why he does certain things. However in stark contrast, nature within the poem always seems to be calculating and planning its next move on the man.

Lastly, there is also a juxtaposition between that which belongs to man, and that which belongs to nature. Within the poem the man made objects such as the lantern, seem to shroud and keep the old man from noticing One aged man - -one man - - cant keep a nature. Ironically, nature is all around the man, house,/ A farm, a countryside, or if he can,/ Its such as in the flame of the lantern, but the old thus he does it of a winter night (lines 26-28) man just fails to recognize it. Through the use of comparisons within the poem, Frost is trying to suggest a theme of ignorance in humans because we hardly recognize the beauty in nature around us.