Why Robert Frost is considered a Modernist Writer (Essay Sample)

Student's Name: Professor's Name: Course Title: Date: Why Robert Frost is considered a Modernist Writer Modernism is defined as "modern artistic or literary philosophy and practice, especially a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." In poetry, the modernist period covered approximately the first half of the 1900's. In rather general terms, modernist poetry is considered to be innovative and totally new, since it broke with the past patterns of what was known as the Romantic period. There are several distinct features of modern poetry. It should be new and emphasize on imagination. Sometimes, it is complex, involving different peoples and cultures. Therefore, there is always a discussion on whether Frost meets the criteria of being a modernist poet. Frost's poems use everyday language in simple, traditional verse forms. His poetry is reminiscent of 19th century Romantic poets in some ways, but he is definitely a modernist poet. The voice in his poetry is the natural speaking voice of a New Englander, delivered in a realistic, yet lyrical style. He brings the ordinary up to the level of extraordinary with such things as the images of snowy woods, a fork in a woodland path and a lonely wife who runs back to her mother. In his poem, "The Road Not Taken," he does not exactly shake up the well worn path poetry that had taken through the years. Over the course of his life, he produced numerous volumes of poetry, and although they were not always well received, he eventually developed a faithful following of Americans who found delight and great significance in his work (Richardson 56). Frost was "mentored" to a certain extent by Ezra Pound, most definitely a modernist poet, although twelve years older than Pound. "Directive”, which many considered his best poem, challenges the previous ways of looking at thinking and nature. While not following exactly what might be considered the modern poet's "boilerplate”, some of his writing subtly rebels against the ones that went before him, such as the late Romantics. Frost is a Modernist, but in his own way. His works are definitely his own and he looks back to the poets who came before him through whom he was influenced. He did not set out to "reinvent" poetry like other modernists, but rather, he just wrote it because he wanted to write. Probably, the thing about Robert Frost's poetry that put him in the category of modernists was the sense of realism he exhibited in his writings. Earlier poets had such a romantic ideal of the world, and modernists wanted to show it in more realistic terms. T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" shows the world as empty and depressing, for example after World War I. Frost did not exactly follow the "rules" of modernism. Neither did he bring out a "rosy" depiction of humanity as it was not. He definitely made his poetry to reflect the world as it was, but in the way he chose to express the thoughts, not by someone else's pattern (Cole 24). Frost preferred to write long poems to better portray his meanings. He wanted to put in a lot of detailed images, not just one. Sometimes, he would put in one meaning while implying another, which was not what some modernists believed was the way to write. In Frost's poem, "The Mending Wall”, he spoke about "good neighbors" but also spoke of animosity between the neighbors. The poem "dances around" reflects negativity, yet it is there for the reader to see. Frost is a modernist because of what many would call "indirection." The simple words and direct language of "Mending Wall" and "The Road Not Taken" are really ironical in that they reveal something totally different. Frost's poetry delivers the message of disintegration of values in the contemporary life as well as the disenchantment of the contemporary man in metaphysical and symbolic terms, just like the poetry of prominent, modernist poets. This is because a majority of his poems deal with people suffering from frustration, lone...