The Source of Peace: The Vantage Point by Robert Frost Essay Example

The web of humanity is daily faced with the gloom and hardships of life which need something deep to offset this state of unhappiness. In the poem, The Vantage Point by Robert Frost represents the conflict we face while seeking comfort and happiness. A vantage point is an elevated point in the terrain of a place or a perception that will enable you to have a good view of the subject in context. There are those who value nature very much and would choose to spend time alone admiring the trees, animals, water bodies and the terrain whereas some will love to spend their time with their loved ones. In Frost's poem, the two options have been captured well, and according to the persona, nature seems to be far preferable on average than the relief found by interacting with people.

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Loneliness and human isolation is a very distinct subject in the short poem. The persona appears to alienate from the rest of the world only to find an asylum with nature. In line (5) to (7), "I see in white-defined, far off the homes of men, and farther still, the graves of men on an opposing hill," a disconnect from the rest of the society can be felt. Lines 9 to 10 give another dimension on this: "If by noon I have too much of these, I have but to turn on my arm." By intuition, we can tell that there is no strong bond or connection of the persona to their society. That is why they can get detached easily from other people and turn to nature. After getting tired beholding the trees, the persona remarks "Myself unseen," (line 5) about cattle of the people grazing on the slopes. Why should the persona want to go unnoticed?

Love of nature is another regnant theme in the poem. The first line of the poem states "If tired of trees I seek again mankind," to imply that the persona spends a great deal of time with trees and nature at large. After long time periods is when they resort to human interaction. The cycle of paying a visit to nature and going back to people is repetitive. A person who doesn't love nature will never spend their huge amounts of time admiring the grandeur and awe exhibited by all kinds of natural sceneries. The last two lines of the poem justify the assertion of the persona's love towards nature: "I smell the earth, I smell the bruised plant, I look into the crater of the ant."

In Frost's poem, literary devices have been used to communicate more emphatically the intended message. "...far off the homes of men, and farther still," line 6, is visual imagery. It connotes that the persona is distant in the first place. This is in line with developing the theme of isolation. The second aspect shaped by the imagery is the vantage point obtained by this persona. To be able to see many homes of men and many others which are beyond, we get the import of a geographical elevation. This enables one to catch a panoramic glimpse of the environment. In addition to this, we have use of a simile "my breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze" (line 12). It is a form of imagery that helps the mind perceive the nature of the breathing the persona had.

"There amid lolling juniper reclined" (line 4). The juniper trees have been personified as people who can sit back and relax. In another line, the grazing of cattle is portrayed as a human act of maintaining a grass lawn: "where the cattle keep the lawn" (line 3). The personification of inanimate objects as human beings is a tool that revitalizes description given to a scene. It adds to the visual perception we have of the subject at hand. It is important for the audience to visualize what the persona had in mind when they were uttering the words found in the literary text of the poem. The term "bruised plant" in line 13 indicates a beaten state of the plants through an abrasive action or the effect of the sun's heat. This then produces the smell snuffled by the author of the poem.

The articulation of the author's thoughts is so clear that we can see their round character. We feel and can see the emotions revealed by the persona like "I smell the earth, I smell the bruised plant" (line 13). Through such a demonstration, the process of realization is depicted about the surroundings. On the other hand, the use of a static character is also employed such that the persona seems to be constant all through. The thought of having a disconnect with other people is reiterated throughout the poem. The dynamism of character may be adopted too in the analysis because, at some point, there is a variation of interest between nature and humanity and back.

There is a bigger picture of what is happing than what we can see in the text. Since the writer of the poem id Robert Frost, it can be induced that Frost did not have great social connections with other people. As long as the mind can get a reprieve from the toil of life activities in nature, we can secure happiness and peace of mind. Many people get distressed with some things which threaten to rob them of the cheerfulness even to the point of making others depressed. In the American soil, each passing year marks an increase of people with experiencing stress in their lives (McEwen 2007). A lot of happiness can be secured by calling into nature places mingled with connecting with people socially. These two are the major natural remedies to do away with stress and gloom.

Conclusion

From the analysis above, we can attest that poetry is an art that communicates the mind of an author succinctly and is to be interpreted correctly only in the same setting it was composed. To effectively put across all the intended thoughts in a lucid style, tools of literature have to be employed. We can see how the persona is disconnected from their society and the solitude is compensated with the adventure to the woods and beholding of the lovely nature. It gives the joy to interact with natural things around us and also spending some time with people. Extrapolated to abstract environments, the beauty of things can be obtained over the rest of the pressing ideas just as a raised point is to the low lying regions.

Works cited

"The Vantage Point" By Robert Frost". Columbia Daily Tribune, 2018, http://www.columbiatribune.com/f9099d62-213c-5104-a635-e5e18cd353f5.html. Accessed 12 Nov 2018.

Frost, Robert. "The Vantage Point". The Vantage Point, 2018, https://m.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/vantage-point. Accessed 12 Nov 2018.

Frost, Robert. The Poetry of Robert Frost. Random House, 2001.

McEwen, Bruce S. "Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: the central role of the brain." Physiological reviews87.3 (2007): 873-904.