Birches" is a memorable poem, rich and interesting enough to repay more than one reading. Robert Frost provides vivid images of birch trees to contrast the harsh realities of life with human actions of imagination.I recommend this poem to anyone who is interested in reading and studying poetry which meets many requirements of excellence.However, it cannot be understood by a quick glance in the classroom Calm. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned”? Get an original essay “Birches” has a deep theme and its sounds, rhythm, form, tone, and figures of speech emphasize this. meaning. The theme "Birches" provides an interesting aspect of imagination to oppose reality. Initially, reality is depicted as birch trees bending and breaking under the load of ice after a freezing rain and being dragged into the ferns. dry the load And they don't seem to break; although once they are bent so low for a long time, they never straighten out: reality has its ups and downs. This passage suggests that people never fully recover from being dragged down by life, even if they don't seem broken. Imagination is described as "a birch swinger". The boy's portrayal perfects this image: one after another he subdued his father's trees by riding them again and again. The boy seems to learn life lessons from these encounters with the trees of his father's land: he has learned everything there is to learn about not leaving too soon. This boy lives far from the city and has to play alone. He learned his father's lessons. Imagination is the gift of escape from reality that each of us possesses. We don't have to depend on anyone to take a mental vacation. Mastering the art of imagination will increase your ability to handle the bad things life throws at you. This is why the narrator advocates the use of imagination. On Earth we can get tired of the daily happenings of life, that "pathless forest". However, Earth is the place of love, not hate, tiredness or any negative feelings. Then use your imagination to return to reality relaxed. At the end, the narrator imagines climbing the birch "To the sky" - to the top and swinging a branch to the ground. He suddenly seems relaxed and carefree. Isn't it better than the bad "Truth"? It seems that imagination works. Thoughts on CraftSound You will often have seen them loaded with ice on a sunny winter morning after the rain. This passage begins the visual journey through the forest. On this journey, Frost wants the reader to see birch trees as they really are and as they appear in a series of pleasing images. Part of the realism comes from the sound of passages like this: they snap in on themselves as the breeze picks up, and they become multicolored as the movement cracks and maddens their enamel. Soon the heat of the sun causes them to shed crystal shells which shatter and fall onto the snow crust - Frost's alliteration - here the repetition of the sounds /z/ and /s/ and /k/ - makes us feel beyond than seeing the birch trees after a freezing rain and the next morning when the thawing begins. The /k/ sound in “crack” and “crazes” imitates the sound of ice in the breeze “shattering” and crashing “onto the snow crust.” It also imitates the crunch of snow under the weight of your boots. The /s/ and /z/ sounds suggest the breeze rising: his use of /s/ sounds increases as it rises. These sounds also suggest the scratching and rustling of birch branches scraped on the crust. Perhaps they also imitate rustlingof layers of warm clothing rubbing together as you walk. These sounds contribute to the tone, or attitude, regarding “Truth” or reality. The upheaval caused by the breeze and heat of the sun portray an upset and uncomfortable feeling. Life is full of its peaceful ups and downs; however, it also consists of shocking collapses. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE CRAFT Rhythm and Form "Betulle" consists mainly of blank verse: unbordered iambic pentameter, as in the following lines. ............./................./............../... ...... .../............../ When I see the birch trees bending left and right ......../....... ...... ../............../.............../.......... .../ Through the lines of straighter, darker trees. However, Frost departs from this pattern to emphasize certain lines that give clues to the theme. Lines 3, 5, 23, and 30 each contain the word "they," meaning the birches. Lines 14 and 15 also rhyme and deviate from the iambic pentameter scheme: ........................./...... ... .............../............../............./.. ... ......./ They are dragged by the load on the dry ferns ............../........./....... ............../................................/.. ............... .............../ And they don't seem to break; though once bent The meaning reflected in the lines scanned above plus the next line: "So low for a long time, they'll never straighten out:" add up to dramatize what the "downs" of life will do to a person. Lines 42, 50, and 54 contain the rhymes be, me, and tree, which emphasize that the narrator wishes to be in his imagination, that he identifies with the imaginary boy who was "a birch swinger. Tone The poem communicates an attitude towards of imagination and reality The choice of certain words and certain details makes it clear that the speaker prefers imagination but is aware of reality. Initially, the forest scene describes "crystal shells/ Shattering and avalanches on the snow crust. -/ Such piles of broken glass. sweep away." The words "shatter and avalanche" give the feeling of calamity and perhaps of fear or pain. A disturbance in the universe is suggested by the "heaps of broken glass" which make it appear as if "the inner dome of the sky had fallen ." Since Truth is connected to the ice storm, the speaker sees that the reality is that the ice storms bent the birch trees. There is a turning point that informs the reader that the evil "Truth" has intruded in the poem. The speaker, who was becoming whimsical and nostalgic for girls drying their long hair “in the sun,” admits that “the truth broke in / With all its concreteness on the ice storm. But now it's the imagination's turn. The speaker's irritation with the truth sets aside reality for the more refreshing vision of the imagination. The comforting image of the boy who "one by one...subdued his father's trees" contrasts art to the destructive chaos of reality. The boy hones his art of imagination with tenacity - And not one but hanging inert, there is none left to conquer. He has learned all there is to learn. .This scene is softer than the ice storm scene in lines 5 - 15. But the point of this opposition between imagination and reality, the boy versus the ice storm, comes only years later, at the end of the poem The Frustration of life sometimes makes it “too much like a pathless forest.” After revealing that he himself was "a birch swinger," the speaker confesses that he longs to return to those days in his imagination to get away from the frustrations and burdens. ravages of real life. The last line, "You could do worse than be a birch swinger,"