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Analysis and comments on Home Burial by Robert Frost

[1] 2

Comment 12 of 12, added on March 24th, 2007 at 6:42 PM.

I find this poem to be very interesting yet very depressing. It can have so
many views interepted. Such as the role of a man and a woman. The death of
a close one, and how lack of communication and understanding can terribly
hurt a relationship. Everyone is entitled to express their emotions they
want, but the wife does not like the fact that the husband won't express
himself. Very deep thinking by Frost, especially since this is his own life
expreience.

Annie from United States
Comment 11 of 12, added on April 3rd, 2006 at 3:16 PM.

Merve I have to agree with you with all that is said!

After researching Frost, I have came to find out about his own loss of his
children. Throughout his life he had a lot of death that engulfed him. The
meaning of this is that everyone he cared for ended up dying earlier than
expected. His son Elliot died at age 4, his daughter Elinor Bettina died
when she was 3 days old, his wife suffers fom a miscarriage, two of his
daughters suffered mental breakdowns and died, and his son Carol committed
suicide. So I believe that Frost knew exactly what he wanted to portray in
this story. I believe that in the time this poem was wrote you have to
realize that the father would want the very best for his child in death and
that the mother did not understand what the father was trying to do. The
father built the casket for his son(it was his responsiblity to take care
of the burial while the mother mourns over the death of her child) as his
turn to mourn comes in later after his son's burial was complete! Why else
do you believe that he buried the child in his yard? He wanted to remember
his child always and keep him close, so he could oversee the care of his
grave. Yes, I agree with Merve, the Father has to mourn in his own way. As
for the Mother, she wants all the attention on herself and this keeps her
blinded from what her husband is actually doing for their son!

Kara from United States
Comment 10 of 12, added on March 26th, 2006 at 5:18 PM.

I had never before today come across "Home Burial," although I am a
longtime fan of Robert Frost. This poem is beautifully, brutally real.
Overwhelming grief, alienation from those to whom we are closest are
universal experiences. Frost captures the pain and confusion well.

Tori from United States
Comment 9 of 12, added on February 6th, 2006 at 8:58 PM.

Writing a 5 page essay on frost, seriously it's not easy to do..theres not
much to say.. hopefully i can get some stuff out of this poem.
And it's from personal experience, that's what poems are expression of deep
feeling, obviously he's going to write about something as deep as his son
dying, he's a poet.

Jackie
Comment 8 of 12, added on February 1st, 2006 at 6:50 PM.

this was an interesting poem. it was sad and long but one of the more
interesting frost poems that i have read and analyzed thus far.

stacy from Trinidad and Tobago, Republic
Comment 7 of 12, added on January 30th, 2006 at 4:56 PM.

Frost handles the topic of a dying child very skillfully. While, the
phrasing at times in ackward in the piece, the sentiment and frustration on
the part of the husband and wife is authentic. "Home Burial," is a mostly
successful poem. The image that stays with me is imagining the wife
watching the husband digging the grave. I can see her being utterly amazed
at his effort. I can see the husband being so entranced in the act that he
would have no emotional consequence or concern about the digging. The
digging was necessary. The burial was necessary. For the wife, his grief
has been insufficient, not enough.

ldcm from United States
Comment 6 of 12, added on January 25th, 2006 at 6:07 AM.

this poem sucks. its the most depressive thing ive read since an emo songs
lyrics. who in their right frame of mind would want to write a poem based
on a child dying? its a sick sick world we live in.

The Boom from United Kingdom
Comment 5 of 12, added on January 19th, 2006 at 6:45 PM.

i gosh don shot my foot angian dango dango dango

alex story
Comment 4 of 12, added on October 12th, 2005 at 5:11 AM.

It is a good poem and it highlights the problems the death of a child can
bring. It shows how the mother cannot express her grief to her husband and
how thwe father cannot understand his wifes grief.

Susan from Australia
Comment 3 of 12, added on July 16th, 2005 at 12:01 PM.

Frost's poem is definitely about the problem of the lack of communication
that a couple may face, but it is more about a kind of an emotional
conflict. This conflict lies in the way the two characters are shown. The
woman (mother) is devastated about her son's death and she shows it
clearly; she does not try to hide her feelings as opposed to her husband
who had dug his son's grave with his hands and in the poem, he does not
show his grief and mourning. However, this does not mean that he is
insensitive or is devoid of the feelings a father should have, but he masks
his emotions for a reason or another. Maybe one devastated parent is more
than enough in a marriage (the mother) or else the marriage would fall
apart but on the other hand, this masking of emotions, to the husband's
surprise, leads to a separation on the part of his wife, if not physically
(although it happens at the end of the poem), it is an emotional separation
which is the most hurtful.

Sweet Butterfly from Lebanon

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Information about Home Burial

Poet: Robert Frost
Poem: 3. Home Burial
Volume: North of Boston
Year: 1914
Added: Feb 1 2004
Viewed: 16193 times


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