The Need to Be Versed in Country Things commentary
“The Need of Being Versed in Country Things” Commentary “The Need of Being Versed in Country Things”, by Robert Frost, illustrates the scene of a useless barn on abandoned land that nature has unexpectedly welcomed. Through effective use of concealed conceit in combination with personification of the farm elements and the inconsistent rhyme scheme, Frost exposes the nostalgic human yearning to control and impose meaning in life and conveys that nature holds more power over the will of mankind.
Throughout this piece, Frost suggests the power of nature through unexpected metaphor. In the opening stanza, Frost describes the house fire as “a sunset glow”. Fire is dangerous and difficult to control. This effective comparison is used to demonstrate that from the beginning of this piece, humans have no control over nature. Frost used the phrase, “a sunset glow” because he could not find any other language that could possibly describe how he felt. Man-made objects could not provide the same effect as nature language could; therefore, even in language, nature has more dominance. In addition to that, the chimney and a pistil are compared. A chimney is man-made, and it is all that is left after the fire. The petals have gone too, and the pistil is left. However, nature will renew itself and almost identical petals will grow again; yet, the same house will not be built again. This contrast foreshadows the rest of the poem and proposes that nature can restore itself, but mankind cannot. Likewise, in the second stanza, the barn survived the fire due to “the will of the wind”. The word “will” suggests that the wind can make choices for its direction. Therefore, the wind gives mercy to the barn. Once again, humans have no control, they can only be thankful that their barns, or other human desires, were spared.
Personification played a crucial role in this piece which is especially presented in the fifth stanza. Unlike man-made objects, nature is able to restore itself. On
Throughout this piece, Frost suggests the power of nature through unexpected metaphor. In the opening stanza, Frost describes the house fire as “a sunset glow”. Fire is dangerous and difficult to control. This effective comparison is used to demonstrate that from the beginning of this piece, humans have no control over nature. Frost used the phrase, “a sunset glow” because he could not find any other language that could possibly describe how he felt. Man-made objects could not provide the same effect as nature language could; therefore, even in language, nature has more dominance. In addition to that, the chimney and a pistil are compared. A chimney is man-made, and it is all that is left after the fire. The petals have gone too, and the pistil is left. However, nature will renew itself and almost identical petals will grow again; yet, the same house will not be built again. This contrast foreshadows the rest of the poem and proposes that nature can restore itself, but mankind cannot. Likewise, in the second stanza, the barn survived the fire due to “the will of the wind”. The word “will” suggests that the wind can make choices for its direction. Therefore, the wind gives mercy to the barn. Once again, humans have no control, they can only be thankful that their barns, or other human desires, were spared.
Personification played a crucial role in this piece which is especially presented in the fifth stanza. Unlike man-made objects, nature is able to restore itself. On