Home Burial Research Paper

Alisha Anderson
Mrs. England
English Literature
10-30-13

Robert Frost uses many different literary devices and themes in his poem to help readers comprehend his work. In his poems, Robert Frost has used lack of communication to bring forth a message. In “Home Burial” Frost displays the relationship between the husband and wife after their son has passed. In “Mending Wall” he displays the insufficient communication between the two neighbors. Frost uses dialogue to convey the argument, alliteration and repetition, and symbolism to help the reader understand the lack of communication in “Mending Wall” and “Home Burial” .

Frost uses dialogue between the characters in “Home Burial” to help the reader comprehend the argument between this man and his wife Amy. Fagan states “the poem depicts the scene of a rural home burial, where husband and wife, in the burying of their only child, express their grief differently and cannot communicate their feelings of loss to each other”( http://www.fofweb.com/Lit/default.asp). Amy is mourning over her sons death and feels like her husband does not care about what has recently happened.As she continues to cry and show her hurt for her child dying, her husband continues to be impatient toward her. Amy and her husband were recently having problems with their marriage prior to the death of their son. At the beginning of the poem Frost uses irrational words on behalf of the wife towards her husbands anger problems, however, at the end he uses more assertive words that assures the reader this character is ready to depart from the pain and hardship her husband has caused her. Frost portrays the wife character as a selfish, non-understanding woman who only cares about how she is feeling during the time of her sons death. Amy, the wife, wants her husband to feel the same pain that she enduring, however, he continues to be the stereotypical man in society and does not show his real feelings to her or anyone. Throughout the poem, Frost portrays Amy this way to show how a stereotypical woman acts when her child has passed away, upset and irrational from the pressure. The husband appears to be controlling and abusive because throughout the last part of the poem he demands her to stay calm or he will follow and forcibly bring her back against her will.

Frost uses alliteration (QUOTE!) to keep the reader into the poem and to show the detailed description of what was happening at that time. Alliteration shows the emotion put into the poem and puts an emphasis on the importance of the words used. It ensure that the right message is conveyed to readers. Frost also uses repetition (Example) in this poem to show the reader the importance of these particular words. Every time Frost uses this device it makes the poem more dramatic than it was originally. In this poem the repetition does not add to the rhyme scheme as it usually does because there is no rhyme scheme present. An example of repetition in “Home Burial” is when Frost continues to use “don’t” to speak for the woman. This form of repetition is used to show the importance of the woman getting away from her husband.

Symbolism is used in poetry to create a mysterious mood within the poem. Using symbols creates vivid imagery for the readers which makes poetry easier to read and understand. Frost uses symbols in his poem to convey a deeper meaning than just saying everything straight forward. The first symbol he uses is the title “Home Burial”. Instead of saying a child dies, he uses “Home Burial” because there is not only the burial of the child, however, the marriage portrayed in this poem is also dead and buried. When the husband looks out of the “window frames” that is symbolism for how he envisions the graveyard compares to the bedroom. When understanding why Frost uses symbolism it helps the reader comprehend the rest of the poem.

Frost shows the relationship between a husband and his wife after their son dies in his poem “Home Burial”. Although he does not have a rhyme scheme Frost uses dialogue between two people who have mixed emotions to create a poem that displays symbolism, repetition, and many other literary devices. Frost uses these things to help the reader comprehend his point of the poem, however, imagery is the only way you will fully understand the message being conveyed.

Work Cited
Little, Michael R. ""Home Burial"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 31 Oct. 2013 .

Fagan, Deirdre. ""Home Burial"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 31 Oct. 2013 .

Cited: Little, Michael R. ""Home Burial"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 31 Oct. 2013 . Fagan, Deirdre. ""Home Burial"." Bloom 's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 31 Oct. 2013 .