Birches by Robert Frost
The Poem
When I see Birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many –colored
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.
Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering an avalanching on the snow-crust
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves:
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter of fact about the ice-storm,
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows-
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,
Whose only play was what he found himself,
Summer or winter and could play alone.
One by one he subdued his father’s trees
But riding them down over over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them.
And not one but hung limp, not one was left
For him to conquer. He learns all there was
To learn about not launching out too soon
And so not carrying the tree away
Clear to the ground. He always kept his prose
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.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig’s having lashed across it open.
I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.
I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
Content
Birches is a slender hardy tree with thin peeling bark, it can grow up to fifty feet tall. The tree is flexible that it can easily bend in the wind.
The poem Birches is a monologue from the poet. He expresses his experiences in his encounter with Birches.
He says that when he sees birches bend, he imagines that the trees are bent by a young boy, but bending does not make them bend to stay like an ice-storm.
They are always covered with ice on a sunny winter morning. The ice-covered branches can also be blown off when the wind knocks the ice-covered branches against each other which results in a loud sound.
The heat from the sun will break the ice covering the branches and it falls off the trees making a sound compared to a broken glass and an avalanche.
Avalanche is a mass of snow, ice and rocks falling rapidly down a mountain side. He compares what happens to the fallen inner dome of heaven because the bending of the tree has a dome shape.
The load of the ice on the tree bends it but does not break but cannot stand up-right again, but there is a possibility of internal break. Years later, they come back to life and this is compared to country girls drying their long hair in the sun.
The persona says to say the truth, he prefers to have some boys bend the trees rather than the ice-storm: a boy that herds cows, a boy that does not know how to play baseball, a boy that lives in isolation on the farm, who only interacts with nature.
He would go to his father’s farm, bending down the trees one by one until they lose their stiffness. He is perfect at doing this without breaking the tree; he climbs and bends the tree perfectly.
The poem persona then flashbacks to his younger age when he was once a swinger of birches and wishes he is again. The persona cannot do that again because he has a lot of responsibilities.
He compares life to a “Pathless wood,’ where it is easy to lose direction and get lost. The path is full of risks; spider webs, sharp branches.
The persona wishes to have the youthful experiences again because it is pleasurable but, appeals to God or deities not to cut his life short as a result of his wishes.
He later concludes that, “Earth is the right place for love.” He wishes to transit heaven through climbing of birch tree and comes back carefully to his normal life, “set me down again.”
The poem’s persona is happy with his notion of vacation from the pains and problems of life since it is temporary and not permanent.
Themes
The theme of Nature: The topics discussed in the poem are that of nature and how man interacts with nature. We see how the boy interacts with Birches. Mention is also made of the sun, earth, love, and heaven.
The interaction between nature and nature is also expressed as we see in birches and the formation of ice on it.
Beauty of Nature: The bending of Birches as a result of the formation of ice on it and the breaking away of the ice is compared to the inner dome of heaven.
Innocence: We see this when the poem persona says that he wishes a boy bends the Birches instead of the ice-storms.
“Some boys too far from town to learn baseball
Whose only play was what he found himself.”
Theme of Perfection: The persona describes how the boy would be able to bend the Birches continuously because he is perfect at doing it.
Tribulation: The poet describes life as being full of ups and downs when he says,
“And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with cobweb.”
Childhood experience: The persona describes the childhood experiences as lovely and pleasurable and he wishes to have the experiences again.
Perseverance/ Resilience: The poem teaches us to be resilient and endure any situation or condition we find ourselves in life because no condition is permanent; we should be able to weather the storm.
Poetic Devices
Simile: This is used in lines 17-20. The rejuvenation of the tree is compared with the country girls drying their long hair. “like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair… to dry in the sun.”
Also, in line 42.” And life is too much like a pathless wood.”
Imagery: As we are reading through the poem, the picture of the poet’s descriptions is showing in our minds. We are seeing the picture with our inner eyes in our inner minds.
Language: The language of the poem is complex as a result of the topic being discussed, but the poet makes use of the appropriate figures of speech which simplifies the diction for easy understanding of the subject matter.
Metaphor: In lines 10-12, the breaking of the ice is compared to the shattering crystal and glass fall.
“Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching… heap of broken glass.”
Dramatic monologue: The poet’s usage of personal pronouns “I” and “You makes the presentation appear as if he is addressing some people, hence it is a dramatic monologue.