Home Burial Analysis - Academic Mode

Home Burial
by Robert Frost

He saw her from the bottom of the stairs
Before she saw him. She was starting down,
Looking back over her shoulder at some fear.
She took a doubtful step and then undid it
To raise herself and look again. He spoke
Advancing toward her: ‘What is it you see
From up there always—for I want to know.’
She turned and sank upon her skirts at that,
And her face changed from terrified to dull.
He said to gain time: ‘What is it you see,’
Mounting until she cowered under him.
‘I will find out now—you must tell me, dear.’
She, in her place, refused him any help
With the least stiffening of her neck and silence.
She let him look, sure that he wouldn’t see,
Blind creature; and awhile he didn’t see.
But at last he murmured, ‘Oh,’ and again, ‘Oh.’
‘What is it—what?’ she said.
‘Just that I see.’

‘You don’t,’ she challenged. ‘Tell me what it is.’
‘The wonder is I didn’t see at once.
I never noticed it from here before.
I must be wonted to it—that’s the reason.
The little graveyard where my people are!
So small the window frames the whole of it.
Not so much larger than a bedroom, is it?
There are three stones of slate and one of marble,
Broad-shouldered little slabs there in the sunlight
On the sidehill. We haven’t to mind those.
But I understand: it is not the stones,
But the child’s mound—’
‘Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,’ she cried.

She withdrew shrinking from beneath his arm
That rested on the banister, and slid downstairs;
And turned on him with such a daunting look,
He said twice over before he knew himself:
‘Can’t a man speak of his own child he’s lost?’
‘Not you! Oh, where’s my hat? Oh, I don’t need it!
I must get out of here. I must get air.
I don’t know rightly whether any man can.’
‘Amy! Don’t go to someone else this time.
Listen to me. I won’t come down the stairs.’
He sat and fixed his chin between his fists.

‘There’s something I should like to ask you, dear.’

‘You don’t know how to ask it.’

‘Help me, then.’

Her fingers moved the latch for all reply.
‘My words are nearly always an offense.
I don’t know how to speak of anything
So as to please you. But I might be taught
I should suppose. I can’t say I see how.
A man must partly give up being a man
With women-folk. We could have some arrangement
By which I’d bind myself to keep hands off
Anything special you’re a-mind to name.
Though I don’t like such things ’twixt those that love.
Two that don’t love can’t live together without them.
But two that do can’t live together with them.’
She moved the latch a little. ‘Don’t—don’t go.
Don’t carry it to someone else this time.
Tell me about it if it’s something human.
Let me into your grief. I’m not so much
Unlike other folks as your standing there
Apart would make me out. Give me my chance.
I do think, though, you overdo it a little.
What was it brought you up to think it the thing
To take your mother-loss of a first child
So inconsolably—in the face of love.
You’d think his memory might be satisfied—’

‘There you go sneering now!’
‘I’m not, I’m not!
You make me angry. I’ll come down to you.
God, what a woman! And it’s come to this,
A man can’t speak of his own child that’s dead.’
‘You can’t because you don’t know how to speak.
If you had any feelings, you that dug
With your own hand—how could you?—his little grave;
I saw you from that very window there,
Making the gravel leap and leap in air,
Leap up, like that, like that, and land so lightly
And roll back down the mound beside the hole.
I thought, Who is that man? I didn’t know you.
And I crept down the stairs and up the stairs
To look again, and still your spade kept lifting.
Then you came in. I heard your rumbling voice
Out in the kitchen, and I don’t know why,
But I went near to see with my own eyes.
You could sit there with the stains on your shoes
Of the fresh earth from your own baby’s grave
And talk about your everyday concerns.
You had stood the spade up against the wall
Outside there in the entry, for I saw it.’

I’m cursed. God, if I don’t believe I’m cursed.’
‘I can repeat the very words you were saying:
“Three foggy mornings and one rainy day
Will rot the best birch fence a man can build.”
Think of it, talk like that at such a time!
What had how long it takes a birch to rot
To do with what was in the darkened parlor?
You couldn’t care! The nearest friends can go
With anyone to death, comes so far short
They might as well not try to go at all.
No, from the time when one is sick to death,
One is alone, and he dies more alone.
Friends make pretense of following to the grave,
But before one is in it, their minds are turned
And making the best of their way back to life
And living people, and things they understand.
But the world’s evil. I won’t have grief so
If I can change it. Oh, I won’t, I won’t!’

‘There, you have said it all and you feel better.
You won’t go now. You’re crying. Close the door.
The heart’s gone out of it: why keep it up.
Amy! There’s someone coming down the road!’

‘You—oh, you think the talk is all. I must go—
Somewhere out of this house. How can I make you— ?’
‘If—you—do!’ She was opening the door wider.
‘Where do you mean to go? First tell me that.
I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!—

Home Burial Summary
Home Burial Popularity: Home Burial is a famous dramatic tale of the personal loss of a family and its impact on their internal affairs, written by Robert Frost, a famous American poet. It was first published in 1930. The poem encompasses a mother's grief and trauma over the death of her son. It also shows how this incident shook their marital relationship. The poem's popularity, however, lies in the portrayal of a mother's true emotional reaction.
“Home burial” Representing grief, the poem paints a bleak picture of the family after they lost their only son. The mother is disturbed when she sees her son's grave. The memory of this heartbreaking incident bothers her, and her husband fails to understand the reason for their stress. Her husband's ignorance reveals a tense conversation between them. She doesn't like his ignorance and his desire to leave the house. He begs her to express the reason for her indifferent behavior, but she does not and remains inconsolable. She escapes the suffocating air of the house that continually reminds her of the death of her son. She leaves her house while her husband promises to bring her back. The use of force and remain in this conflict.
Main themes in "Home Burial": Mental breakdown, loss of a child and the collapse of a marriage are the main themes of the poem. The poem presents a family disturbed by the death of While the husband accepts the biological sequence of life and the reality of death, the mother is traumatized by intense pain, leaving her mentally ill, in addition, the communication gap between them restricts them. the expression of your pain. to express her anger and anxiety, but she blames him for being so serene and accepting the tragic blow of life.
Analysis of literary devices in “Home Burial”
Literary devices play a fundamental role in shaping a literary work . The writer uses them to bring uniqueness and depth to simple texts. Robert Frost has also given this poem depth and clarity with appropriate use of these literary devices. The analysis of some of the devices used in this poem is given below.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel tones on the same line as the tone of / o / in "If I can change it. Oh, I won't, I won't" and the tone of / a / in "Jump the gravel and let it bounce" .
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant tones on the same line as the tone of / t / in "Remember, speak like this at such a time "And the tone of / s / in" As he says that they lift in the sunlight on the sidehill ".
Enjambment: Enjambment refers to the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or verse. “

Images: Images are used to get readers to perceive things with their five senses. For example: "He saw him r from the foot of the stairs"; "And you put the spade against the wall" and "And turned on him with such a discouraging look."
Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant tones on the same line as the tone of / l / in "I will" laugh the worst laugh I've ever laughed "and the sound of / t / in" If I can change it. Oh, I won't, I won't. ”
Metaphor: The poem has some implicit metaphors. Used to compare objects that are different without mentioning them. For example, “'Not you! Oh, where is my hat? Oh I don't need it! I must get out of here. I must take a breath ”. Here the house is compared to a trap, and this is how the mother feels after the death of her son. In the second example, “No, from the time one is sick until death, one is alone, and dies more alone”, the mother's pain in the face of death.
This literary analysis shows that Robert Frost made wonderful use of literary means not only to make his poem engaging and thought-provoking, but also to open up new dimensions for further interpretation.

Analysis of poetic devices in the “burial at home”
The poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

There are eight long stanzas in this poem.
Blank verse: It is a type of verse that does not follow any specific rhyme scheme. This poem is written as a blank verse.
Repetition: There is a repetition of the line, "What do you see?" And “so, so” that has created a musical quality in poem
Restraint: Verses that are repeated at a distance in poems are called chorus. The line, “What do you see? repeated with the same words, it has become a chorus as it has been repeated three times in the first verse
Quotes to use
The following verse can be used to help someone overcome strong emotions such as anger, pain or the penalty.

“There you said it all and you feel better.
You won't leave now. You're crying. She closes the door.
The heart is gone: why go on like this?