Q. Take two poems and discuss Frost's exhibition of sound of sense.
Frost's best poems exhibit the sound of sound in such a serous and aesthetic manner that readers can get the feeling of existing in the setting of the poems. Frost's writing technique gives depth to the poems and creates an effect that brings out the setting and personas to life. The poems 'Out,Out-' and 'Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening' exhibit such effects of Frost's writing technique.
Frost often presents powerful scenarios that contradict with the atmosphere of his poems for example in 'Out, Out-' he illustrates visual imagery through the mountain ranges and beatific sunset. However this scenery is ruined by the saw's gruesome sounds and ends up creating a dark atmosphere and feelings such as repulsion. Similarly in 'Stopping..' the scenery is depicted as an icy evening giving readers the sense of something cold. The sound of easy wind and gentle snowfall gives a sense of calmness which is replaced by a haunting feeling once the woods are presented as 'lovely, dark, and deep'. Thus Frost succeeds at giving his readers the feeling of existing within the poem by creating such moods through his words.
Frost has also exhibited sound of sense as a feeling you get when listening to a conversation at a distance. You may be unable to hear every word that is spoken, but you are able to gain, through voice tones and patterns, the gist of the conversation. Simply through the words used and the rhyming scheme Frost is able to convey his emotions to the reader. For instance, in 'Out, Out-' the persona's sister calls him for supper and she is the one he refers to when asking for the doctor not to cut off his hand. These simple sentences show us their closeness and amplifies the tragedy of the boy's death when we wonder about his sister's sorrow. In 'Stopping..' we get a hint of conversation between the persona and his horse through the sounds of the horse shaking its harness bells as if to ask the persona why he stopped. The sounds share the horse's bewilderment with the readers as well allowing us to venture deeper into the purpose of the poem.
Frost's greatest presentation of sound of sense is perhaps through his use of alliterations, hyphens, repetitions, and colourful adjectives. In 'Out, Out-' alterations and repetitions bring our attention towards the saw. The readers can picture it snarl and rattle. They can smell the ironically sweet dust being produced from it. Readers can hear the boy's 'rueful cry', they can see his blood spilling and they can hear his heartbeat getting fainter and fainter until it is gone. Readers can predict the outcome of the poem by noticing the abundant hyphens and by connecting them to life that has been cut off before it is completed. In 'Stopping..' adjectives describing the woods and the evening such as 'darkest' also foreshadow something sinister and related to death. These adjectives are contradicted by the repetition at the end of the poem that suggests the persona is not ready to give up entirely. These repetitions allow the reader to contemplate over the lines as if they were pleasant reminders, and perhaps develop hope within themselves as well.
In the absence of sound of sense the reader would probably fail to connect emotionally with the poem. This failure would lead to the neglect of considering the lessons being taught by these poems. In both the poems the imagery contributes to the gruesome image of death, it allows the readers to contemplate over the unfairness of the child's death and over the decision taken by the persona in 'Stopping..'. It allows us to realise the importance of our loved ones and meditate with regard to their pain due to loss, as we see how the sister probably fees helpless in 'Out, Out-' when she hears her brother's heartbeat fade and how even the horse shows his concern when the persona stops in 'Stopping..' , it reminds us that we are not alone, and reminds us of the significance of life while at the same time evoking thought of one's death.
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English Literature 9695
Non-FictionThis is a compilation of all the essays and notes I wrote while I was in ALevels. It must be noted that not all of of these are A* material (though none goes lower than a grade B) so they aren't meant to be copy pasted for your school assignments. U...
