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“Robert Frost: Man and Nature Intertwined” by Phin Upham (Part 1)
February 8th, 2012 by admin
This article appeared in full on SuperPhilosophy.com
Robert Frost creates between man and nature a sort of communion that accepts confrontation and disharmony. His communion, based on a broad ecological perspective, accepts the complexities and imperfections of man. It embraces strife as a necessary part of the natural order. Everyday tasks become heroic, common people become, in mowing or fixing a wall, heroes. Frost envisions man in perpetual struggle with nature to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between order and chaos. The relationship becomes the sort of contrariety that produces fruitful tension. “A momentary stay against confusion” is realized through simple, hands-on labor, and rarely, if ever, through technology. But, while many critics interpret this aspect of Frost as bleak or pessimistic, rather it places man within a greater order despite his individual isolation. A sophisticated, ecological, in some ways Darwinian, perspective is seamlessly overlaid upon the simplicity of a New England Farmer. Many critical essays on Frost’s treatment of nature conclude that man and nature are separate and opposing forces. But this need not be true, and man and nature may be unified, if the relationship is examined from Frost’s broad naturalistic perspective. Frost, despite drawing heavily on the Romantic tradition, is at odds with Wordsworth in many crucial ways. Wordsworth idealizes nature. No, not exactly idealizes, but rather Wordsworth approaches nature with a transcendental perspective while Frost has a hardy, pragmatic, and unflinching view. Consequently, in many ways (and no value judgment is being implied here), Frost is more realistic and less satisfying. Wordsworth fuses religion and nature to create a complete harmony between man and nature. But it is not only harmony, but directional harmony. Nature to Wordsworth is clearly that which man should join in the spiritual sense. Society is often seen as a hindrance or a block. Frost, on the other hand, makes his very specific and personal experiences of nature expressive of man in an adapted ecological context. “There Was a Boy” and “The Most of It” serve to highlight many of these Dynamics. Though his poetry is highly regionalized in temperament and tone in New England and embraces the individualistic tang of rugged America, Frost uses this specificity to imply universality.
About the Author
Phin Upham was the Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Review of Philosophy, where he helped compile “Philosophers in Conversation: Interviews from the Harvard Review of Philosophy.” He graduated from the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania with a PhD in Applied Economics and works as an investor in New York City and San Francisco. Read more from SuperPhilosophy contributor Phin Upham.