The Woodpile by Robert Frost

"The Woodpile" by Robert Frost

Robert Lee Frost was an ingenious American poet of the 20th centaury, who created many poems, most of which were centered around the rural life. Although his poems may seem to focus on everyday things, his poems are examine social and philosophical themes. Robert Frost's "The Wood-Pile," is a poem that portrays a timeless theme that occurs in society: the quest for success.

"The Wood-Pile" talks about the narrator's walk through a "frozen swamp one grey day," (Frost 1). As he is walking, the narrator becomes wary of continuing but eventually decides to keep going. As he walks, he notices his surroundings, describing them in fine detail, and realizes that the trees are all "too much alike to mark or name a place" and assumes that he is far from home (Frost 7). As he realizes this, a small bird flies and lands in front of him. The bird watches the narrator carefully, as if the latter was after the bird's tail feather, and acts just like someone who takes everything said personally. As the walk continues, the narrator's attention is averted to a pile of wood that is laying on the snow. The bird flies away without so much as a good night from the narrator, who has begun to examine the wood pile. He notices that the wood is made of maple, "cut and split/ and piled" (Frost 23-24). Seeing no tracks around and noticing that the wood is grey and the pile is sunken, the narrator deduces that the pile is old, perhaps from last year cutting. This triggers the narrator to think that only "someone who lived in turning to fresh tasks" would forget about the work he spent his labor on and leave it in a frozen swamp, far from a "useful fireplace," to decay and rot away (Frost 35-38).

At first glance, Frost's poem seems to be about a walk in a swamp. However, when one examines it, one sees its about much more. The poem represents humanities quest at attempting to succeed and stand out in society. In the beginning, the narrator is complementing whether to "go on further" or "turn back" (Frost 2-3). This represents humans natural fear of going beyond what is considered to be the safety limits of life. When the narrator decides to keep going, it symbolizes that there are those who push past those boundaries and walk towards the unknown. The narrator's journey