The Silken Tent

“The Silken Tent”
Robert Frost’s poem, “The Silken Tent”, is a unique depiction of the author’s view for the character of his beloved woman. Frost uses different figures of speech to convey the importance of woman, by showing the audience her strength and beauty of her independence. The entire poem itself is an ongoing metaphor, a clever comparison of the strong woman to a silken tent, “She is as in a field a silken tent” (1) . The use of imagery helps to describe the strength and confidence that this woman has in herself, and shows how much he admires this about his beloved. This Shakespearean sonnet follows strict guidelines and goes well beyond the expectations of any normal sonnet. The silken tent itself represents the structure of the woman’s life, and serves as a model of strength, sureness, and understanding to her duties. Imagery is the representation in language of sense experience, and throughout Frost’s “The Silken Tent” are vivid examples of visual imagery. He uses this imagery to enhance the depiction of the woman, raising her to a higher standard compared to others.
“And its supporting central cedar pole/That is its pinnacle to heavenward/And signifies the sureness of the soul” (5-7), here Frost is using the imagery of the pole to help describe the metaphor comparing the woman to the tent as a symbol of her strength. The “central cedar pole” (5) is considered to be the base, or main structure for all things and it “signifies the sureness of the soul” (7) meaning that the pole is the woman’s inner strength that keeps her going each day. “At midday when a sunny summer breeze/Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent” (2-3) uses the imagery of the afternoon to describe essentially how the woman being depicted is someone relaxing and easy to be around. The “ropes relent” (2) is a way of illustrating that the ropes are now loosened after the night’s rest, and is now relaxed and ready to go with the day’s duties. “The Silken Tent” is an admiration for a woman’s strength and beauty; this woman has confidence in herself and the duties that she is allotted by being a woman. Her independence is one form of strength, allowing her to stand on her own and take commands only from herself. “Seems to owe naught to any single cord,/But strictly held by none, is loosely bound” (8-9), in these lines we see how Frost depicts the woman as having freedom. When he says that she “Seems to owe naught to any single cord” (8) this means that she does what she does for no one else but herself, the woman is not following the commands of anyone. Her strength is described in the from the metaphor of the “cedar pole” (5), the pole being a central support system for the tent, just as the woman is the central support system for herself. The cedar pole is a great analogy for her strength; cedar is one of the strongest forms of wood, which makes it a great description for the enormous strength of the woman. Another depiction of her strength is the simile used in the beginning of the poem, “She is as in a field a silken tent” (1). Silk is a very strong material and was used to make tents that would withstand strong weather conditions without falling apart. The comparison of the woman to the silk shows how her strength cannot be broken down easily, that it can handle the many things that life may throw at her. Throughout Frost’s poem the use of different figures of speech is predominant, and they are used to help generate the theme and understanding of the poem. A simile is a figure in which a similarity between two unlike objects is directly expressed (Harmon, 514). Frost begins this poem with a simile comparing the woman to a silken tent, “She is as in a field a silken tent” (1). This comparison builds a structure for the rest of the poem, because each comparison Frost makes for the remainder of the poem is relating to this “silken tent”. A polyptoton is the repetition in close proximity of words that have the same roots (Harmon 428). Frost uses polyptotons to give the poem the its rhythm and beat, and they are also used as adjectives to describe things in the poem. Two examples of this in the poem are when he uses “sunny summer” (2) to describe the afternoon’s breeze, and “central cedar” (5) to describe the support of the tent’s pole. A metaphor is an analogy identifying one object with another and ascribing to the first object one or more of the qualities of the second (Harmon 340). Overall, “The Silken Tent” is one big metaphor. Frost chooses to compare each aspect of this woman to the unique aspects of a silken tent, making the two seem alike. “The Silken Tent” is a Shakespearean sonnet that follows strict guidelines of structure and format. Sonnets are made up of fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, and they have a specific rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme remains constant and follows an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG pattern, meaning that every other line is rhymes with each other. Frost was able to go beyond the guidelines that Shakespeare laid out by making the entire poem one graceful, flowing sentence. A lyric poem is one that is brief and subjective, and is strongly marked by imagination, melody, and emotion creating single, unified impression (Harmon 324). “The Silken Tent” is a lyric poem, in that she authors feelings toward his beloved woman is obviously expressed and continued throughout that poem. When Frost says things like: “the sureness of the soul” (7) and “By countless silken ties of love and thought” (10), he is expressing his likeness and love for the woman, by saying positive things about her. Being a lyric poem, it makes the overall tone of the poem to be playful and loving.