To Earthward By Aylah Cabrera, Selena Rodriguez and Tony Munoz

Background Date published: 1923 Was written in the volume “New Hampshire” Frost wrote this poem in 1914 Frost (at the time the poem was written) was living in little Iddens in England Frost was around 50 years old.

Selena:My prediction was that the poem would be about the earth and environment. Aylah: I thought of falling to the ground,so I predicted the poem to be about Frost going through hard times. Tony : My prediction of the title was that the poem would consist of something becoming alive or more vivid. Prediction of the title

Our interpretation of the poem was about a man who was in love with this young lady and the love started so sweet, but then later became bitter. Later he realized his love was a regret, but he tried to make things work. However at the end, he wants to relieve his pain by death. Our Interpretation

Actual Interpretation The actual meaning of the poem is that there was an old man(possibly Robert Frost) who was looking back at his past life and how his love before was so sweet. He describes all the sweet moments he can remember. Then he comes back to reality noticing how much his love has changed to something so bitter. He is suffering so much that he believes his only way out of pain is death. He hopes that his pain ends after death.

The speaker is a forlorn (unhappy) old man looking back at his past. For example, “Seemed strong when I was young;”(14): This refers to the past because of the words was young. Another example is “Now no joy but lacks salt”(17): This points out that the speaker came back to reality because of the word now. Also the life expectancy then was 54yrs. old and this is another reason for Robert Frost reflecting on the past. About the Speaker

sweet relaxed wistful longing innocent Tone Shift in Tone(5) Bitter painful or in pain

*Diction: Use of words for the senses “Bitter Bark”(23): Willing to take the pain “Swirl and ache”(9):Feeling lightheaded “Craved”(13): Yearning for love(young love) “Dashed”(18) and “Stiff”(25): Almost feeling paralyzed like. “Weight and strength”(30): feeling pain/pressure Effect of Diction: Draws the reader into realizing how love changes with time and how love can change you overtime. Connotation

*Imagery: “Love at the lips”(1): A kiss “That when they’re gathered shake Dew on the knuckle”(11-12): He grabbed flowers from the ground for a lover. “I take away my hand From leaning on it hard” (26- 27): helps visualize his pressure on the grass. Effect: Shows the relationship between the young love and the bitterness of pain. It’s vivid in the reader’s mind. Continued Connotations

Imagery as Shown

“Love at the lips”(1) “Down hill at dusk?”(8) “Strong sweets...seemed strong...stung”(13-16) “Stiff and sore and scarred”(25) Alliteration(connotation) Assonance ●“Crave the stain”(20) ●“Takeaway”(26) Effect of both: Is to add sound quality. It makes the poem flow from one idea to the next still rhyming as to capture listener’s ears.

“The hurt is not enough”(29) “As sweet as I could bear”(2) “I had the swirl and ache from sprays of honeysuckle..”(9-10) Effect: It is used to show deep anguish, in other words pain/suffering. Overstatement (hyperbole) Symbolism ●“Now no joy but lacks salt”(17):Salt represents no spark or connection in the love. ●“Rose”(15): demonstrates the innocence of the young love. ●The entire last stanza(29-32):Symbolic to laying in the grave.

“As sweet as I could bear” (2) “The petal of the rose it was that stung(15-16) “The sweet of bitter bark”(23) Effect of the Paradox: The paradox shows the confusion or the contradictory throughout the poem. This can help us understand the speaker’s thought on love and how his emotions are conflicting with love. Paradox

A Lyrical Poem : A poem that expresses personal or emotional feelings. It stresses the state of mind and their own feelings about something. Enjambment: A continuation of a phrase from one line or couplet of a poem to the next without a pause. Ex. Lines 9-12 and lines Effect: Creates this long continuation to symbolize how his pain keeps going on. Caesura: A pause/break between words within metrical foot. Ex. Line 7 in Stanza 2 Effect: Makes it seem like he does not know how to express himself. Structure of the Poem

Rhyme Scheme: ABAB,CDCD,EFEF, etc. The rhyme scheme in the poem helps it flow and shows a happy melody when you read it, and it contradicts itself with some of the harsh tone. It is a pattern which can also represent love that has its ups and downs. Structure Continued

This explains the poem To Earthward a little more. The volume, New Hampshire, was about Robert Frost accepting others and different obstacles that came his way. He began to accept those things that were no longer perfect. It was a change in himself and in his writing in nature (became more darker and explicit). Criticism #1

Is that something so sweet can also be so bitter. And that love can change over time, as well as it can change you. The point of the poem is to illustrate the joy of new love and the bitter pain when love does not stay. To demonstrate the best and worst parts of love. Theme

The End