Symbolism in Robert Frost's "Birches"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the poem, "Birches," by Robert Frost and examines how it embodies the connection between what lives in our minds and our real experiences. The writer explains how life, youth, the expected, the unexpected, and experience itself are represented in "Birches" through symbols. For example, birch branches symbolize life while ice is a symbol of life's ordeals, and walking through a dense forest symbolizes the times when one cannot see where one is headed. In this sense, while the poem appears to be about nature, it is actually more concerned with what is happening in the poet's mind as he looks at the trees. The paper concludes that "Birches" is a positive poem that helps us to relate to each other through symbolism, and that it is typical of Frost in that it gives a glimpse of life through an aspect of nature.

From the Paper:

"The winter is a symbol of the cold seasons that life that can sometimes bring us. We all experience times in our lives where we feel like we are in the cold and things will never feel warm again. However, like the birch trees, if we hang on a little while, we will see that there is a reason to hang on and continue to live. Like the birches, we will experience a springtime, a warming where the warm sunshine will make us shed the "crystal shells" (10) of ice that have formed over the winter months. Frost is suggesting that we endure life's winter season and look forward to the melting of the snow and the beauty of spring. In other words, we must stick around long enough to see how the show ends. Life is filled with different seasons and we build character when we endure like the birch trees have endured over the years."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Byam, Nina. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. II. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.
• Frost, Robert. "Birches." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. II. Byam, Nina, ed. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008.
• Untermeyer, Louis. Robert Frost's Poems. New York: Pocket Books, 1970.

More papers on Symbolism in Robert Frost's "Birches":

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• Analytical Essay # 28966 : "Robert Frost -- Swinger of Birches"
• Analytical Essay # 65324 : "Robert Frost's "Birches"

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