Robert Frost And Edwin Arlington Essay

Robert frost and Edwin Arlington Robinson were two of the greatest american poets ever. Both of these poets were not able to make money instantly by doing what they loved though. Both poets went to Harvard but neither acquired a college degree. Frost attempted to live off the land and farm but that did not work out too well and he moved to England “ The couple moved to England in 1992, after they tried and failed at farming in New Hampshire” (Robert Frost bio). In England Frost met Ezra Pound who helped him promote and publish his work. Arlington lived in poverty when in New York until he acquired a job as a subway inspector. Arlington continued to write poems and later on his work attracted President Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt gave him a …show more content…
One similarity between the two is that alliteration is used. Frost uses alliteration in the line “The woods are lovely, dark and deep”. This line explains that although the woods may be lovely, There are still things that are able to go wrong in them. Robinson uses alliteration in the line “To make us wish that we were in his place”. This line is used as imagery to show how all of the people who were living in poverty envy Richard Cory and one day wished to have the opportunity to be like him. Both Frost and Robinson use Imagery in their poems as well. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” Frost uses the lines “The only other sound’s the sweep of easy wind and downy flake”. These two lines make the reader imagine solitude and how calming it can really be. Arlington uses imagery in “Richard Cory” in the line “He was a gentleman from sole to crown”. These lines make the reader think Richard Cory is an established man and he knows what he is doing . This line also indicates that people think highly of him. One last similarity is the use of repetition in the poems. In Arlington’s “Richard Cory” there is constant repetition of the words “us” and “him”. “Us” refers to the people that are living in poverty and “him” refers to Richard Cory. Arlington included this in the poem because he wanted to show the separation between the normal people of the town and …show more content…
These two poems have two completely different settings. In “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” frost chose a rural setting where it was snowing. This setting may relate to his past because “[he] tried farming in New Hampshire”(Frost bio). Maby his time on the farm encouraged him to write about the beauty of nature. In Arlington’s “Richard Cory” the setting is in an urban area during the summer with lots of people around. We can infer this because people are walking on the street “ We people on the pavement looked at him” (Arlington, Richard Cory). Another difference between the two poems is the theme. The theme is the message that the author is trying to get into the reader's head. The theme of “Richard Cory” is, having money does not mean that you are happy and that anyone can become depressed. Arlington tries to tell the readers this by saying “He was rich- yes richer than a king” and “In fine, we thought that he was everything to make us wish that we were in his place”. These two lines explain that the people of the town wanted to be like “Richard Cory” because they thought that he had everything they wanted. “Richard Cory” motivated people because they thought that his life was great “So on we worked and waited for the light” (Arlington, Richard Cory). The townsfolk worked and worked to get the opportunity to be like him but once he killed himself they finally realized that not even the richest