¶ … female character in Robert Frost's poem, "Home Burial."
Frost's poem "Home Burial" tells the story of two people torn apart by the loss of their first-born child, a son. Amy, the woman in the story, is nameless until we read at least half the poem. We know she is a woman, because Frost refers to her as "she," and talks about the way she is dressed. "She turned and sank upon her skirts at that, And her face changed from terrified to dull." Already we know that she is troubled about something, and her husband is concerned.
Amy is still grieving over her son that seems to have recently died. She also is very angry with her husband, but she has not told him why. She seems a little afraid of him, but he seems to bend to her wishes. He says, "My words are nearly always an offence. I don't know how to speak of anything So as to please you. But I might be taught I should suppose. I can't say I see how. A man must partly give up being a man With women-folk."
He feels that he gives up some of himself...
"If you had any feelings, you that dug With your own hand -- how could you? -- his little grave; You could sit there with the stains on your
shoes Of the fresh earth from your own baby's grave And talk about your everyday concerns."
He does not seem to even comprehend what she is talking about, and seems to gloss over this event that has bothered her so. "There, you have said it all and you feel better. You won't go now. You're crying. Close the door." It is clear that he does not understand her, and she does not understand him. This event in their lives has pushed the two of them apart, and it does not seem as if they…
