Dec 27, 2009

Two Tramps in Mud Time | Two Tramps in Mud Time

At a glance:

Author: Robert Frost
First Published: 1934
Type of Work: Lyric
Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
Subjects: Class conflict, Human rights, Depression, economic, Class consciousness, 1930’s, New England, Tramps or hoboes, Work or workers, Winter, Spring

The Poem

Robert Frost’s well-known poem “Two Tramps in Mud Time” is made up of tightly rhymed (ababcdcd) iambic tetrameter lines; nevertheless, the nine stanzas sound relaxed and anecdotal. The speaker/poet tells of a moment during the Depression when two tramps caught him in his backyard and challenged him briefly on an ethical point: Presumably, there are needy workers who chop wood for a living, and Frost is “playing” with another person’s work. At the very worst, he is stealing a job from someone.

The poem begins with the sudden appearance of the...

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Two Tramps in Mud Time | Two Tramps in Mud Time

At a glance:

The Poem

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