"Birches" is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 in his collection "Mountain Interval." The poem reflects on the speaker's memories of climbing and swinging on birch trees as a child, and meditates on the idea of escapism and the passage of time.
In the first stanza, the speaker recalls the joy and freedom he experienced as a child climbing and swinging on the birch trees. The trees serve as a symbol of his childhood innocence and playfulness, as he describes how he would "dangle down" and "let go" to "swoop" through the air.
In the second stanza, the speaker reflects on the passage of time and the changes that have occurred since his childhood. He observes that the birch trees have grown "too tall" and "too heavy" for him to climb, and he muses on the idea that they may have been "bent" by the weight of the snow. This serves as a metaphor for the passage of time, as the speaker recognizes that he can no longer return to the carefree days of his youth.
The third stanza introduces the theme of escapism, as the speaker imagines a scenario in which the birch trees were bent by the weight of ice, rather than snow. In this scenario, the trees would "snap back" and "be young again," symbolizing the possibility of escaping the constraints of time and returning to a state of youth and innocence. The speaker also notes that this scenario is purely hypothetical, and he knows that he cannot "go back to the child" he once was.
In the final stanza, the speaker reflects on the idea of escapism and the desire to return to the past. He wonders if the birch trees, with their "simple" and "innocent" beauty, offer a way to "get away from earth awhile" and escape the complexities and burdens of adulthood. The speaker concludes by expressing his longing to "go away and come back" to the birch trees, suggesting that he sees them as a place of refuge and a way to escape the realities of life.
Overall, "Birches" is a poignant reflection on the passage of time and the human desire to escape the constraints of the present and return to a state of innocence and simplicity. Through the use of vivid imagery and symbolism, Frost captures the sense of nostalgia and longing that often accompanies the realization that one can never truly go back to the past.
Birches by Robert Frost Summary and stanza
It is also the act of aiming at something beyond oneself and momentarily transcending the Self. One could do worse than be a swinger of birches. It is unrhymed and a metrical feet that have two syllables, one unstressed followed by stressed. Again he would come back from top to bottom and this would be a source of good joy for him both going and coming back. Written in conversational language, the birches poem constantly moves from reverie to reflection , truth and imagination, earth and heaven, concrete and spirit, control and abandon and flight and return.
Robert Frost: Poems āBirchesā (1916) Summary and Analysis
He always kept his poise To the top branches, climbing carefully With the same pains you use to fill a cup Up to the brim, and even above the brim. As he is an adult, he is unable to ascend to heaven until he leaves his responsibilities behind and begins anew on earth. Ice falling with a great speed that bends down birches for ever. The narrator remembers when he used to swing on birches and wishes that he could return to those carefree days. Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish, Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
Birches: Poem by Robert Frost
He says that this is a poem in which observation and reminiscence, realism and fancy, the light tone and the serious, are perfectly blended; it moves with beautiful assurance from mood to mood, image to image, thought to thought: its variations of speed within the blank-verse-metre are masterly. Although the poet may like to withdraw from the cares and anxieties of the life on the earth, he cannot entertain the idea of relinquishing the earth forever. One could do worse if one did not like to be a swinger of birches. The poem rings a bell in our mind and we unconsciously think of Keats-'s Ode to a Nightingale where the poet wants to fade away into the world of the Nightingale. We studied it at school In the early 80s when I was 15.
Critical Analysis of Birches by Robert Frost ISC Class 11, 12
He goes on to think that the crystals of ice are really pieces of the dome of heaven that has fallen down. Often you must have seen them Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning After a rain. Elizabeth Jennings points out that in Birches, Frost shows a yearning for a movement that is heavenward but also declares emphatically "Earth's the right place for love", and goes on to pinpoint his preference for the immediate, tangible world, and his capacity to manage without too much of transcendentalism. In other words, it is not the boy but only the ice- storm that can bend birches forever. There was a time when he was haunted by all kinds of doubts and perplexities and life seemed to be dull and gloomy to him. Here, it means the continuation of though even to the next paragraph. The word half grant is of importance here as he does not want to go away permanently.
