Robert Frost Comparative Essay - a Tuft, Stopping

Comparative Essay (practice) - ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘The Tuft of Flowers’ - RF

Discuss the differences and similarities between the texts and their themes. Include comments on the ways the poet uses elements such as structure, tone, images and other stylistic devices to communicate their purposes.

In Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ and ‘The Tuft of Flowers’ Frost explores the connection between man and nature as well, as the nature of human relationships, through themes of unity as well as separation. Continuing with the matter of nature, Frost also uses different ‘natural’ themes to display the way in which nature can act as a catalyst for bringing about new ideals to man. These ideas are displayed throughout each poem in similar and different ways which flow with the way Frost describes the natural surrounding the protagonist finds himself in.

Robert Frost’s ‘Tuft’ and ‘Stopping’ each convey a constant theme of the connection between man and nature as well as the interactions between them. In each poem nature is described in different light as the protagonist moves through the poem, and starts taking more care in noticing the little things around him. At the beginning of each poem the protagonist’s attention is mostly fixated on commodities of the unnatural world, seen in words such as “house”, “village”, “farmhouse” in ‘Stopping’ and “mowed”, “blade” and “whetstone” in ‘tuft’, although these items all interact help man interact with nature, they the way in which the protagonist or other persons are connecting with their natural surroundings is purely beneficial to man. In saying this, however, each of the poems do display these themes in different ways. The connection between nature and man in ‘Tuft’ is through mans coexistence with nature and how the little things in the natural world can bring people closer together “the mower in the dew had loved them thus…not for us” displays this as the idea that people must be there for each other and help each other carry out their life duties. This is contrasted in ‘Stopping’ in which man isn't seen to really co-exist with nature rather nature is used by the protagonist to realise his duties in the world and work for himself to continue on his own journey. In ‘Stopping’ the protagonist must rely solely on himself to keep his “promises” and finish the task at hand. Frost uses the rhyme scheme of each poem to further convey this idea, in ‘tuft’ each ‘verse’ is a rhyming couplet displaying how nature has brought the two people closer together as they work in harmony without even realising it, whereas, in ‘stopping’ the ‘AABA’ rhyme scheme shows the continuity of a single man journeying through life on his own.

As the poem moves on, however, Frost portrays the way in which man is able to connect with nature on a more meta level, as each protagonist tries to use his natural surroundings to help understand his place in the world as well as achieve a deeper understanding of the importance of living in harmony with nature rather than trying to exploit it. Through juxtaposition in each poem Frost conveys a deeper understanding of the phenomena's of the natural world; in ‘Tuft; the butterfly was eager for the haymaker to find the “tall tuft of flowers”, in which ‘“tuft” and “tall” are oxymoron's where “tall” is seen to represent strength and power juxtaposed by “tuft” which displays ideas of fragility as well as togetherness. This is shown again in ‘Stopping’ with the protagonists description of the woods being “lovely, dark and deep” the juxtaposition of “lovely” and “dark and deep” allows a deeper understanding of the different aspects of beauty displayed in the natural world, where even something haunting can be lovely. These different descriptions of nature help each protagonist in contrasting ways. In ‘Tuft’ the cheerful tone of the protagonist discovering the “tall tuft of flowers” conveys a sense of joy and wonder, which in this case can be seen to be the main reason the protagonist carries out his duties. This is conflicted in ‘Stopping’ with the darker tone conveyed by Frost. The protagonist is in the woods on the “darkest evening of the year” which seems strange, this is confirmed by his horse who thinks stopping is a “mistake” this eeriness conveyed by Frost gives us deeper understanding of why the protagonist choses to move on; the natural world seems to make him uncomfortable in a sense and he realises he must carry on with his journey and reach his destination, probably somewhere that isn't part of the natural world, before he can stop and rest.

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