What do the poems mean?
Frost wrote many of his best poems on several levels of meaning. He describes a natural setting with beautiful seasonal imagery and he connects this to human beings. There is a literal meaning and there is a deeper more profound meaning. Many poems are parables: a simple story which is meant to remind the reader of something else – perhaps more spiritual or psychological. Frost often cautioned the reader, “Don’t press the poem too hard.” He said, “The real meaning is the most obvious meaning.” He was not a poet of obscuration. He believed a good poem did not require footnotes. Wordplay is very important, along with form and structure. But for the reader to stop there is to miss the chance to know a great mind in a deeper way. Frost is full of contradictions and he is hard to pin down. Just when you think you have a poem or the poet figured out, he eludes you. Don’t think you’re going to get any answers out of Robert Frost. This is his great charm.
