Departmental (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Frost
- First Published: 1936
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry
- Subjects: Nature, Death or dying, Ants
“Departmental,” a Frost poem of the 1930's, typifies its author in several ways. It is playful, full of clever rhymes, and closely observant of a natural scene that mirrors aspects of human life. In this Depression-era poem, Frost focuses on the popular theme of social organization. It is almost a fable, though it implies, rather than states, its moral.
To follow an ant on a tablecloth, the poem says, is immediately to see dutiful and specialized behavior. “Departmental” focuses on ants’ way of dealing with death. If a particular ant finds a dead moth, its only...
[The entire page is 802 words long]
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