弗罗斯特两首名诗对比分析

弗罗斯特两首名诗对比分析摘要：弗罗斯特的诗歌以新英格兰地区的田园生活和自然风光为背景，清新自然；以新英格兰口语为表达方式，通俗易懂；而浅显的文字下深邃的哲理又发人深省。

这类诗歌的代表作当属《未选择的路》和《雪夜林边驻足》。

本文将以“戏剧独白”为框架，以“句子—声音理论”为研究方法，对比分析这两首诗歌，得出它们在情景、语言、人物形象三方面的异同点。

最后客观地从诗人的生活经历着手对异同点做出解释，从而得出诗人的生活经历影响诗歌创作的结论。

关键词：罗伯特·弗罗斯特；戏剧独白；句子—声音理论；生活经历CONTENTSIntroduction (1)1. Robert Frost's Life-experiences and His Two Poems (2)1.1 Robert Frost's Life-experiences (2)1.2 The Background of These Two Poems (5)1.2.1 The Background of The Road Not Taken (5)1.2.2 The Background of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (6)2. Samenesses of These Two Poems (7)2.1 Background: The Nature (7)2.2 Language: Oral Language of New England (8)2.3 Character Image: A Traveler (9)3. Differences Between These Two Poems (10)3.1 Background: Encountering Divergence VS. Stopping By Woods (11)3.2 Language: Traditional Iambic Poem VS. Rondeau (11)3.3 Character Image: Positive Traveler VS. Burden-bearing Traveler (12)4. Causes for Samenesses and Differences (13)4.1 Causes for Samenesses (13)4.1.1 Living Environment (13)4.1.2 Wordsworth's Poetic Language (14)4.1.3 The Hardship of Life (14)4.2 Causes for Differences (15)4.2.1 Different Themes (15)4.2.2 Stable Life is Precondition (15)4.2.3 Emerson's Optimism (16)5. Conclusion (17)Bibliography (18)IntroductionRobert Frost (1874-1963), played an important role in the American poetic community in the 20th century due to his special poetic style. He was therefore considered to be the New England poet and the greatest national poet of the twentieth century America. During his lifetime, he received forty-four honorary degrees from colleges and universities including the famous Oxford and Cambridge and won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for four times, in 1924, 1931, 1937, and 1943. Therefore, he was kept in the minds of Americans as the unofficial laureate.When the American poetic reform reached its climax, Frost still “stuck to” the conventional poetic style. He succeeded and renovated it by adding some modern poetic features to form his own poetic style, the semi-free and semi-conventional style. He always took the rural lives and natural sceneries of the New England area as backgrounds to contribute to the freshness and naturalness of his poems. More creatively, he took the spoken language in the New England area as the language of poems, which is easier to be understood. However, the sophisticated philosophies under those plain words are very enlightening. Representative works of this kind are The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.After a general study of the materials selected, a conclusion is reached that almost every previous research is focused on particular poetry. Whether it is studying poetic language or artistic means, the aim is reaching a consensus on poetic theme. What is more, the major previous researches are on the basis of a sensitive point of view, resulting in various understandings of each poem. But if you can be rational while researching and take the poet’s life-experiences into consideration, the result can be more convincing. Fortunately, the outcomes of previous researches on poetic language function as good references. As to these two poems, each poem has a lone traveler, and the poetic language resembling the speech of the man, as falls into the scope of “dramatic monologue”. Meanwhile, Robert Frost is famous for his poetic theory “sentence sounds”. Consequently, this thesis establishes a frame-work according to “dramatic monologue” in terms of background, language, and characterimage, and takes “sentence sounds” as a means of research in comparatively analyzing these two poems to gain the samenesses and differences. Then it objectively gives answers to them by referring to the poet’s life-experiences during that period.1. Robert Frost's Life-experiences and His Two PoemsBefore studying these two poems, we should have a general knowledge of these two poems, which would help us in deepth-going studying of them.1.1 Robert Frost's Life-experiencesWilliam Wordsw orth believed that poetry was “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”. (Fan Xiuhua, Zhu Zhaohui 2007) Why does the poet have feelings toward something or someone? In my view, only when he has an established criterion in mind, can he have all kinds of feelings, and it is his life-experiences that influence the establishment of the criterion. That is why this thesis attaches such great importance to the poet’s life-experiences, especially before 1924.Robert Lee Frost was born on 26 March 1874 in San Francisco, California to Scottish born Isabelle Moodie (1844-1900), a teacher, and William Prescott Frost Jr. (1850-1885), a teacher and journalist. His sister, Jeanie Florence (1876-1929) was born on 1876 when his father, already beset by drinking and gambling problems, was diagnosed with consumption. In 1885, Frost Jr. died of tuberculosis, leaving the family only 8 pounds after funeral expenses. Honoring his last wishes to be buried in Lawrence, Massachusetts where he was born, Isabelle, Robert and his sister Jeanie Florence made the long train journey across the country to the New England town. After they lived with the paternal grandparents for some time, the family went to Amherst, New Hampshire and stayed at the farm of great-aunt Sarah Frost. Then in the same year, the family returned to Lawrence and Robert Frost was placed in the third grade. In 1886, they moved to Salem Depot, New Hampshire. His mother began teaching fifth to eighth grades in the district school. In 1889, Frost finished school year at the head of the class of Lawrence High School and befriended Carl Burell, whointroduced him to botany, astronomy, and evolutionary concepts. In 1890, Frost published his first poem, "La Noche Triste." In 1892, he graduated with valedictory honors with Elinor White, to whom he was engaged before entering Dartmouth College. Soon, he left because of being disenchanted with the atmosphere of the campus, and worked at the Arlington Woolen Mill in Lawrence, changing carbon filaments in ceiling arc lamps. One year later, he quit the job and began teaching grades one through six in Salem, but tried unsuccessfully to convince Elinor to marry him. In the same year, "My Butterfly: An Elegy" was published in The Independence and he began correspondence with its literary editor Susan Hayes Ward. In 1895, Frost and Elinor got married, and he worked as a reporter for Lawrence Daily American and Sentinal.The next year, the couple had their first child, a son Elliott. In 1897, Frost passed the Harvard College entrance examinations entered Harvard as a freshman and moved into a Cambridge apartment with Elinor, Elliott, and his mother in law. In 1899, concerned with his, Ellinor's, and mother's health, he withdrew from Harvard, and took up poultry farming with financial help from his grandfather. At the same time, his second child, a daughter Lesley, was born on April 28. 1900 was an unfortunate year because his son Elliott died of cholera and mother died of cancer. This year, Frost moved family to 30-acre farm in Derry, New Hampshire. In 1901, his grandfather died and willed Frost a $500 annuity and use of the Derry farm for ten years, after which Frost was to be given ownership of the farm. In 1902, he extended the poultry business and son Carol was born. In 1903, he published a short story "Trap Nests" in The Eastern Poultry man (first of 11 stories and articles published in the Poultry man and Farm-Poultry, 1903-05). Daughter Irma was born on June 27th. In 1905, a daughter Marjorie was born on March 28. In 1906, Frost began a full time position teaching English at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, and published the poem "The Tuft of Flowers" in Derry Enterprise in March. In 1907, daughter Elinor Bettina was born on June 18 and soon died. In 1909, he published a poem "Into My Own" in New England Magazine in May; moved family from the farm to apartment in Derry Village. In 1911, he accepted a teaching position at State Normal School in Plymouth, and taughtcourses in education and psychology; sold the Derry farm in November. In 1912, the family moved to England for a few years and Frost devoted himself to writing full time by renting a cottage in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, 20 miles north of London. He was preparing manuscript of A Boy's Will then and submitted it to the London publishing firm of David Nutt and Company. In 1913, A Boy's Will was published on April 1 and received several favorable reviews including Ezra Pound's in Poetry. Through Pound, he met Hilda Doolittle ("H. D."), Ford Hermann Hueffer (Ford Maddox Ford), May Singular, Earnest Whys, and Million Butler Yeats. He attended weekly gatherings at homes of T. E. Human and Yeats and formed a close mentoring friendship with essayist Edward Thomas. In 1914, Frost moved his family to Memory, Gloucestershire. North of Boston wa s published on May 15 by David Nutt and Company to many favorable reviews. He learned that New York publishing firm of Henry Holt and Company would publish his books in the United States so he decided to return to the United States. In 1915, North of Boston was published by Henry Holt on February 20. Frost arrived in New York on February 23. A Boy's Will was published by Henry Holt in April. And the family moved to Franconia, New Hampshire in June. That year Frost met Edwin Arlington Robinson and poet and anthologist, Louis Untermeyer, who became a lifelong friend. Elinor became ill during pregnancy and recovered after a miscarriage. In 1917, the family moved to Amherst, Massachusetts in January. Frost’s friend Edward Thomas was killed by an artillery shell in France on April 9 at the battle of Arras. He accepted an offer to extend his teaching appointment at Amherst. In 1918, he was awarded an honorary MA degree by Amherst College in May and reappointed as a professor of English. In 1920, he resigned the position at Amherst College in February in dispute with President Meiklejohn over teaching philosophy or devoting more time to writing poetry. His sister Jeanie was arrested in Portland, Maine for disturbing the peace, and Frost committed her to the state mental hospital. Frost sold property in Franconia and bought a farm in South Shaftsbury, Vermont and began serving as consulting editor for Henry Holt and Company. In 1921, he accepted a one-year fellowship in letters at the University of Michigan. In 1923,Selected Poems was published on March 15, New Hampshire published by Henry Holt on November 15. He accepted a new appointment at Amherst College. In 1924, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for New Hampshire, received honorary degrees from Middlebury College and Yale University and accepted a lifetime appointment at University of Michigan as Fellow in Letters.1.2 The Background of These Two Poems1.2.1 The Background of The Road Not TakenThe Road Not TakenTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that, the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.This poem was written in February 1915 and first appeared in Mountain Interval in 1916. Robert Frost said that one stanza of The Road Not Taken was written while he was sitting on a sofa in the middle of England. He was not thinking about himself there, but about a friend who had gone off to war, a person who, whichever road he took, would be sorry he didn’t go the other. (Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, 23 Au g. 1953Http://poetrypages.Lemon 8.nl/ life/roadnottaken/roadnottaken.htm ) Robert Frost and Edward Thomas (1878-1917) met in a London restaurant in 1913, and soon they were taking long walks in the countryside discussing Shakespearean sonnets and war in Europe. Thomas wrote three discerning reviews of North of Boston in which he placed Frost in the company of Whitman and Wordsworth. Frost reciprocated by encouraging Thomas to write poetry and by finding him an American publisher. Beyond professional courtesies, the two had a deep mutual affection, which became wistful after Frost returned to New Hampshire in February 1915 and Thomas enlisted in the army. Despite Frost's fanciful proposal that Thomas take a furlough in America, the two never saw each other again. Two years later, while Frost was teaching at Amherst College, Thomas was killed in action in France.1.2.2 The Background of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningStopping by Woods on a Snowy EveningWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and the frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound's the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.In 1920, Frost bought “Stone House”(now a museum) in South Shaftsbury, Vermont, where he wrote many of the poems, including Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, included in his fourth collection of poetry New Hampshire (1923), which wonhim the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1924. This poem is the most important and most renowned one of Frost’s poems. It draws a picture that a traveler is stopping by woods on a snowy evening and expresses his feeling at that moment. It is plain in words but deep in thoughts. There are various understandings of those thoughts. Some people argue that the mysterious woods refer to the wrong-chosen way of life, while others consider it to be the lure of death, or the attractiveness of natural beauty.2.Samenesses of These Two Poems“Dramatic monologue” is a kind of poetic form. In such a poem, there is always a monologist telling some imaged listeners his life-segment. The poem is expressed in lively and vivid oral language, making its rhythm natural and fluent. “Dramatic monologue” is Victoria-period poet Robert Browning’s (1812-1889) great contribution to English literature, and a lot of subsequent poets applied it to their poetic composition. Robert Frost’s two poems both feature a monologist and natural and fluent language that sounds like the speech of traveler, and fall into the characteristic of “dramatic monologue”. Meanwhile, Frost’s greatest contribution to poetic technique is his “sentence sounds”theory. His poems are always haunted with sounds. Since these two poems are the most significant representatives of the “dramatic monologue”and “sentence sounds”theory, the thesis analyzes them in terms of background, language and character image, and in the process of analyzing, refers to the “sentence sounds” theory.2.1 Background: The NatureThe Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening both take the nature as background，that can be easily detected when reading.There are several clauses in The Road Not Taken indicating it is a scene taking place in the nature, such as “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”, “To where it bent in the undergrowth”, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear”, “In leaves no step had trodden black”. With these words in mind, we can form such a picture in our mind: inan early morning of autumn, a lone man was walking in the woods. Because it was autumn then, the woods had already put on the golden color. But when he was walking, he found two roads diverged before him, which both stretched to places far away with dense undergrowths.There are also some clauses in Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening indicating the scene is in the nature, in the woods to be exactly, such as “Whose woods these are I think I know”, “To watch his woods fill up with snow”, “Between the woods and frozen lake”, “Of easy wind and downy flake”. These words can form a segment in our mind: it was an unconventionally cold evening when the wind and flake was sweeping, and lake frozen. In such a dark, frozen and deathly still evening, one traveler, passing by the woods, absorbed by the scene, stopped and stood still to watch the woods fill up with snow for long and long time.Whether it is a traveler encountering diverged roads when walking in autumn woods, or stopping by a snow-capped winter woods, they are both scenes in the nature.2.2 Language: Oral Language of New EnglandBecause we are studying the poem from the aspect of oral language, the poem is alternating into the following form without changing the syntax or any punctuation in order to gain a better understanding of the character of oral language. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that, the passing there had worn them really about the same, and both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden back. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”Generally speaking, the words in the poem are easy to understand, only five of them are more difficult, those are “diverged, undergrowth, trodden, sigh, hence”. Easydetection is one of the features of oral language.The other feature of oral language is simple syntax. Firstly, taking “and”as conjunction, such as “and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down ...” It is a common phenomenon that when talking, people use “and”as conjunction at most of the time. Since oral speaking is improvisational, in lots of moments thinking pauses happen. In order to keep the sentence fluently, people always choose an easy word that first come to mind as conjunction, and “and” is the simplest and most common one. Secondly, omitting subjects to use semicolon, such as “…where it bent in the undergrowth; then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that …”Thirdly, using exclamatory sentence. “Oh, I kept the first for another day!” It seems as if the traveler’s speaking of exclamation.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening can be changed in to the following form: Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here to watch his woods fill up with snow. My little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near between the woods and the frozen lake the darkest evening of the year. He gives his harness bells a shake to ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep of easy wind and downy flake. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.As to more difficult words, there are three, those are “queer, harness, sweep”.When it comes to simple syntax, there are some examples. Firstly, using of “but”. Instead of using “however”, Frost used a much shorter and easier “but”in the following sentence: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...” Secondly, using “’s” instead of “is”. When speaking, it is true that we use “’s”instead of “is”, and “’s” is an obvious phenomenon of oral language. Thirdly, repeating of “and miles to go before I sleep”, that sounds like the murmur of the character.2.3 Character Image: A TravelerCharacters of both these two poems are lonely just as Frost has thought man tobe essentially lonely. (Hu Yingtong, Liu Shusen 2006) As to The Road Not Taken, firstly, the traveler appeared alone. “And be one traveler, long I stood”, this clause informs us that the traveler was definitely alone. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both”: if he was with his friend there he may not have to worry about which road to travel. Secondly, in appearance, the traveler was alone and in truth he was lonely. When contrasted with the great nature, man is always turned to be pitiful and smallish. In the first poem, when the traveler was taking a walk in the woods, two diverged roads suddenly appeared in front of him. He thought it over and over, without receiving any help from others and felt hard to make decision. At last, completely relying on himself, he made his mind to take the one less traveled. He thought that after many years he would be sighing about the choice, because once a decision is made, the result would be completely different.In Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, the sentence “My little horse must think it queer to stop without a farmhouse near” tells that by the woods there was a little horse with the traveler but he could not understand why the traveler stood by the frozen and dark woods. On such an occasion, the little horse may be the traveler’s best friend, if not the poet would not use “he” to refer to the little horse. However, he could not even understand the traveler, which reveals the loneliness of the traveler. What is more, some images in the poem deep-grade the loneliness of the poem, such as snow, wind, lake, and woods. Snow is pure and white, but it can also be cold, and in such a dark evening, snow could be dreary cold, especially when the wind is sweeping. By snow-capped woods with frozen lake a traveler was standing with his little horse, which should be an expressive picture of loneliness. The sentence tells that “The woods are lovely, dark and deep”, and why is it lovely when it is dark? In my point of view, darkness makes it possible for the traveler to neglect lots of unexpected things such as the burden from promises and leaves him alone and freely.3.Differences Between These Two PoemsThere is a claim that we should observe thing in all dimensions. It is applicablein analyzing these two poems. When studying with this claim in mind, we can easy to find that these two poems have samenesses as well as differences.3.1 Background: Encountering Divergence VS. Stopping By WoodsTo be specific, these two poems have the same background but different scenes. The former is coming across divergence in the woods, and the latter is stopping by woods on a snowy evening.When the traveler was having a stroll in the yellow woods in an early autumn morning, he came across two diverged roads. Looking forward to finding some good reasons for a better decision, he looked down one and then the other in distance. Because the passing there had worn them really about the same, and both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black, it was really hard to make a decision. At last, he chose the second one and wanted to keep the first one for another day, but he know that way leads on, and he may never come back. He thought that ages and ages later, he would be telling the scene with a sigh that he took the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference.In Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,the traveler who was deeply absorbed by the woods filled up with snow, stopped to watch it for a long time. He thought that the owner of the woods would not see him stopping there to watch his woods, even though his house was in the village. At this time, his little horse gave his harness bells a shake, as if wondering whether there was some mistake. The traveler thought that the woods were lovely, dark and deep. But with promises to keep, he had miles and miles to go before sleep.3.2 Language: Traditional Iambic Poem VS. RondeauThe Road Not Taken that combines the traditional iambic poem with the oral New England language is a representative work of Frost’s. The poem is divided into four stanzas, five lines into a stanza, and four feet into a line. It enjoys the rhyme abaab, for example, wood, stood and should in the first, third and fifth lines have the same rhyme / d /, both and undergrowth in the second and fifth line / th /. The rhyme abaab can be certified in stanza two, three, and four, too.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, takes the iambic rhythm and enjoys the rhyme aaba/ bbcb/ ccdc/ dddd, that is, the first, second, and fourth line has the same rhyme, but the third changed to the rhyme that is the same with the first, second and fourth line in the next stanza. With each of the stanza interlocked, the poet created a special kind of rhyme-style, called rondeau.Besides rhyme, alliteration and assonance are also used in the poem. Alliteration and assonance are very special means in poetic expression. John Hollander describes them in his Rhyme’s Reason like this: “Assonance is the spirit of a rhyme, a common vowel, hovering like a sigh after its consonantal body dies…”(Fan Xiuhua, Zhu Zhaohui 2007) For example, in the first stanza, his, and house in the second line; see, and stopping in the third line; watch, woods, and with in the fourth line. As to assonance, his, and village in the second line; he, see, and me in the third line; his, fill, and with in the fourth line, and so on.3.3 Character Image: Positive Traveler VS. Burden-bearing TravelerThe first poem sets up a positive image of the traveler, while the second shows a burden-bearing one. It can be seen from color, touching, and sound.The main color of the first poem is yellow and green. Yellow wood give us an impression that the scene is colored in yellow, and undergrowth, grassy, shows a green color in the woods. We often take the green color to represent the nature, and the green color can mean liveliness and vigorousness. While yellow color is simple of friendliness and vigorousness. In terms of touching, since it was in the early morning in the woods and in leaves no step had trodden black, the air there must be fresh and cool, which can promote one’s spirit. When it comes to sounds, in such an early morning, birds chirping must be a necessity which can make the woods lively.All of these features transfer to us the message that the traveler is positive.The main color of the second poem is black, for example, the darkest evening; the woods are lovely, dark and deep. Though the woods are white and pure, under the darkest sky, it is dark too. The dark color resembles the state of the character. The winter evening also gives us a feeling that it is cold. Winter is cold, snow is cold, windis cold, and frozen lake is cold. What is more, the sounds in the poem upgrade the expression of the character. The sweep of the easy wind and downy flake look like the pressure oppress the traveler. In conclusion, the dark, cold and wind-sweeping night creates an atmosphere that reveals the traveler is bearing a burden.4. Causes for Samenesses and DifferencesThere must be some reasons for the samenesses and differences. One’s living environment and experiences, to a great extent, affect his thoughts and works at last. In my view, it is true to refer to Frost’s living environment and experiences when giving answers to the samenesses and differences.4.1 Causes for SamenessesThe causes for samenesses must be things that last for long time and have a deep influence on the poet, or they could not affect the writing of the two poems that have a span of several years.4.1.1 Living EnvironmentThe living environment of the poet has a great influence on him, helping him take the natural environment as the background of his poems. The poet’s majority of time at this point in his life was spent in New England area, especially in the New Hampshire and Vermont where the local life and natural scenery provides his composition with adequate material. The first poem was written when he was in England. Frost has ever said that one stanza of the poem was written when he was sitting on the sofa in the middle of England, and it was found three or four years later; then he continued the writing and finished it in February 1915. When he was in England, he was often walking in the woods with his good friend Thomas. When they were strolling there, Thomas often regretted that he did not choose the road that he had not chosen. In my view, the beautiful scenery and his friend’s behavior must have made a deep impression on him.The second poem wa s written in the “Stone House”. In 1920, Frost bought “Stone House”(now a museum) in South Shaftsbury, Vermont where he wrote many of the。