Robert Frost: A Late Walk

Robert Frost: A Late Walk

Robert Frost is among the most well-known and well-loved poets in the United States. His poetry is very down to earth and not at all difficult to understand -- as some poets' works are -- so the Frost style of writing poetry is valuable in a learning environment.

First stanza: "When I go up through the mowing field / the headless aftermath / Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew / Half closes the garden path."

Second stanza: "And when I come to the garden ground / the whir of sober birds / Up from the tangle of withered weeds / Is sadder than any words."

First Activity: It is important for a student to take each word in each stanza and try and understand the meaning the poet was hoping to convey. We say "hoping" because each individual receives information from the written word in unique ways.

The poet is describing a particular season in this poem. What season? How do you know? What does the poet mean by "aftermath" and what word could he use in place of aftermath to help the reader understand his idea? Why are the birds "sober" in this poem? His rhymes are very clear and obvious -- (aftermath & path; birds & words) -- and very easy to pronounce. Read the poem out loud and say each rhyming word louder than the rest of the words. Does Frost make these rhymes to add to the meaning of the poem, or does he just find words that rhyme and fit in? What is your idea about why he chooses words to rhyme because poetry doesn't have to rhyme. The words in the first and third lines don't rhyme -- why not?

Third stanza: "A tree beside the wall stands bare / but a leaf that lingered brown / Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought / Comes softly rattling down."

Second activity: Blending images with words adds to the understanding of a poem. On a plain piece of paper draw with pencil a scene that you see in your mind's eye when you read the third stanza of this poem. Think about that tree next to the wall. What does the wall look like? Is it walling something in, or walling something out? Why did the one leaf left fall? Was there a quick breeze that came by? What do we know about the falling leaf for sure? Draw the breeze and imagine how the leaf falls.

Third Activity: In the third stanza, why does the poet say a leaf is "softly rattling down" -- how could a falling leaf be softly falling and rattling at the same time? It is important to use one's imagination to conjure up as many possibilities as one can. Think back to spring when the leaf was just a bud on a branch. Is a leaf's annual growth and death like human life in any way? Make a rough drawing of a leaf in its growing stages and under each stage give the year in human years. In other words, take the leaf through its seasonal life on its branch and compare its various stages with a human life. When the bud first appears and has not opened yet is that like a baby still in its mother's womb? What does it look like -- in comparison to a human's life -- when it is one-year-old? When it is 18 years old. When it is 50 years old?

Fourth Stanza: "I end not far from my going forth / by picking the faded blue / of the last remaining aster flower / to carry again to you."