Robert Lee Frost was born on Mars 26th 1874 in San Francisco and he died in Boston, January 29th 1963. Frost was greatly influenced by his move to New England at the age of 11, his move to England when he was 37, and then his return to New Hampshire a couple of years later. These periods can be seen in his poetry. His poems about life and death made him one of the best-known poets of 20th century and he won many literary prizes, including four Pulitzer Prizes. Frost wrote poems whose philosophical dimensions transcend any region. Although his verse forms are traditional, he was a pioneer in the interplay of rhythm and in the poetic use of the vocabulary and inflections of everyday speech. His poetry is both traditional and experimental, regional and universal.
The main reason why I chose Robert Frost’s poem is because his poems are pretty simple and easy to understand. The poem I picked for this analysis, “Ghost House”, is an extremely descriptive poem illustrating an old haunted house. The imagery in “Ghost House” is marvelous. This poem allows the reader to see the house as if they were standing on the front porch.
You can picture an old decrepit house, covered with vines and wild raspberries. There is a dying tree in the front yard with only one live branch on it. Underneath the tree there are two gravestones so covered in moss that the names cannot be deciphered. Right next to the gravestones is a ghostly couple standing middle of mist absolutely still and silent. On the front porch the current owner stands frozen, half by fear and half by curiosity.
The poem is told through the eyes of the current resident of the house. The owner scared of his uninvited company. However, the owner’s opinion of the couple seems to change towards the end of the poem.
The theme of “Ghost House” seems to be that love can survive anything, even when the body does not. Although the couple has passed away they still remain together. Another theme in this poem could be not to judge a book by its cover. At first the house’s owner seems to fear the ghosts, but he eventually comes to respect the bond that they still share.
Free Glass Menagerie Essays: Hopelessness, Futility and Escape
Hopelessness, Futility and Escape in The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is set in the cramped, dinghy apartment of the Wingfield family. It is just one of many such apartments in this lower-class neighborhood. Not one of the Wingfield family members desires to live this apartment. Poverty is what traps them in their humble abode. The escape from this lifestyle, this apartment and these relationships is a significant theme throughout the play. These escapes may be related to the fire escape, the dance hall, the absent Mr. Wingfield and Tom’s inevitable departure.
The play opens with Tom addressing the audience from the fire escape. This entrance into the apartment provides a different purpose for each of the characters. Overall, it is a symbol of the passage from freedom to being trapped in a life of desperation. The fire escape allows Tom the opportunity to get out of the apartment and away from his nagging mother. Amanda sees the fire escape as an opportunity for gentleman callers to enter their lives. Laura’s view is different from her mother and her brother. Her escape seems to be hiding inside the apartment, not out. The fire escape separates reality and the unknown.
Across the street from the Wingfield apartment is the Paradise Dance Hall. Just the name of the place is a total anomaly in the story. Life with the Wingfields is as far from paradise as it could possibly be. Laura appears to find solace in playing the same records over and over again, day after day. Perhaps the music floating up to the apartment from the dance hall is supposed to be her escape which she just can’t take. The music from the dance hall often provides the background music for certain scenes, The Glass Menagerie playing quite frequently. With war ever-present in the background, the dance hall is the last chance for paradise.
Mr. Wingfield, the absent father of Tom and Laura and husband to the shrewish Amanda, is referred to often throughout the story. He is the ultimate symbol of escape. This is because he has managed to remove himself from the desperate situation that the rest of his family are still living in. His picture is featured prominently on the wall as a constant reminder of better times and days gone by. Amanda always makes disparaging remarks about her missing husband, yet lets his picture remain.