Robert Frost Tone

In this poem by Robert Frost, Frost uses the idea of a desert to represent the loneliness and isolation that he felt. Typically, when people think of a desert, they think of a dry, hot place, however the “desert” place Frost talks about has “snow falling” which meant that it was a cold place, not a typical “desert.” (line 1). The selected poem has a first person narrator, Frost, who is telling about the feelings of darkness, loneliness, and isolation that he is experiencing/feeling. For example, when frost first says “Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast,” he is using snow to represent winter which is typically a cold, dreary time. Frost is using night to represent the darkness that he is feeling. The next line where Frost uses an example of a field signifies an empty location that is a symbol for his isolation. These first two lines set the tone and help reveal the true underlying theme for the poem. Although Robert Frost’s poem is titled “Desert Places,” he uses snowy, night scenes as his “desert,” which symbolize a feeling of unconventional loneliness and isolation. The scene of the poem is set in a field with only woods surrounding it. Frost uses imagery to describe the scene when he says, “the ground almost covered smooth in snow, But a …show more content…
One of the best examples Frost uses to signify this idea is when he says, “They cannot scare me with their empty spaces Between stars—on stars where no human race is.” (lines 13 and 14). The use of the phrase “empty spaces” emphasizes his feeling of loneliness and represents a feeling of emptiness. When Frost refers to the stars, he is using them as an example of both loneliness and isolation. In space, there is not really anything or anyone, meaning it is a lonely place. Frost goes on to say he does not have to go to such a place, he experiences that kind of loneliness and isolation at home, when he says “I have it in me so much nearer to home.” (line