Question

What are the themes, literary devices, and structure/form of the poem "An Unstamped Letter On Our Rural Letter Box"?

Accepted Answer

The poem takes the form of a series of couplets in iambic tetrameter. Two lines in a row will rhyme, forming a couplet. Each line is composed of four iambs, that is, two syllables whose natural stresses form a da-DUM pattern. So, for the first line, the stress pattern goes like this: last NIGHT your WATCHdog BARKED all NIGHT. Stresses in metrical poetry are often a key to what's important in the text, especially the final stress of a line, so bear that in mind when writing about it. Also, iambic tetrameter in rhyming couplets goes back to Chaucer, and it can often have a humorous connotation.
A few of the literary devices in the poem are similes, alliteration, and symbolism. "Like a city park" and "like the pip of spades" are both similes. "Firm-set firmament" is an especially interesting example of alliteration, since the whole first syllable is actually repeated. As for the symbolism of the comet, I leave you to decide what it represents, since multiple interpretations could be valid.
Some themes of this poem include socioeconomic class (poverty vs. living in comfort with "advantages"), the connection between internal emotions and the external world, and the relationship between man and nature.

Answer

The theme of the poem is to assert the dignity of a tramp, a homeless man who sleeps under a farmer's juniper tree to try to keep warm. The poem shows this homeless man to be sensitive, resourceful, and educated, and to love nature and have memories and a soul that are touched by the sight of two stars that seem to merge in the night sky.
One literary device Frost uses is apostrophe. Apostrophe is when someone absent or an inanimate object is addressed in a work of literature. In this case, the tramp himself is addressing the farmer on whose land he slept. He notes that the man's dog barked all night, so he wants to explain himself and what he was doing there, which is why he leaves a letter without a stamp in the farmer's mailbox. He wishes the farmer to know he wasn't at "his locks" or trying to break in and burglarize his house.
The tramp uses a simile, a comparison that uses the words "like" or "as," when he says the man's property was "like a city park." In other words, it seemed to the tramp like a communal open space where anyone might feel free to sleep.
The poem uses imagery when the tramp describes how he was too cold to even "uncross his feet" for fear he would lose the little bit of heat he had trapped under tree. He was unwilling to move even though " a point of rock" was pressing into his back. These images convey how uncomfortable the tramp must have been in his makeshift shelter.

Answer

Frost uses a simile, a comparison of two unalike things that contains the word like or as, when he describes a tree as "pointed like the pip of spades" and a metaphor, a comparison of two unalike things where one is said to be another, when he describes the trees making "a suite of glades." Another simile describes this place as being "like a city park." The speaker uses another simile to compare a "low-slung juniper" tree to "a blanket on [his] chin" because it keeps some of the dew off of him and some of his body heat in. The coalescence of two stars in the night sky becomes symbolic of the convergence of two memories inside his own brain. A symbol has both literal and figurative meaning.
In terms of theme, we see the way nature is so personal to the speaker, the way his homelessness actually gives him this close relationship to nature that most people do not have. We might conclude, then, that things are not always as they appear to be. One might expect the homeless person to be depressed, but this speaker is happy about his condition because it gives him different opportunities. Every life has value, and everyone's perspective is worthwhile.

Answer

This poem by Robert Frost is written in rhyming couplets—that is, the first line rhymes with the second, the third with the fourth, and so on. There is no conscious attempt to repeat particular rhyme sounds outside of this framework. The rhythm and meter of the poem are also fairly regular, with each line for the most part having four stressed beats, or feet. This creates a sort of rolling rhythm, replicating the journeys taken by the tramp in whose voice the poem is written, and is also a very simple, almost childish choice of form, which again seems to reflect the subject matter.
The poem paints the tramp as an "astrologer," who is in some ways disadvantaged—he has to keep moving, for example, in order to stay warm, because of his poverty—but at the same time, he has advantages in terms of his freedom. He is able to follow the stars. These themes of being free, and how humans relate to nature, underscore the whole poem, asking questions about what really affords us freedom as humans.
Frost uses many literary devices in this poem, including similes ("pointed like the pip of spades") and aureate diction ("in forma pauperis"). This use of Latin is particularly notable as it is unexpected from the tramp, who has just been outlining the differences between him and his "involuntary host."

Robert Frost Questions and Answers

What are the themes, literary devices, and structure/form of the poem "An Unstamped Letter On Our Rural Letter Box"?

Expert Answers info

Unlock This Answer Now

Related Questions

Ask a Question

Popular Questions

Additional Links