Emersonianism, American Nationalism, and Nature in the Poetry of Robert Frost

• Thesis title in Czech: Emersonismus, americký nacionalismus a příroda v poezii Roberta Frosta
• Thesis title in English: Emersonianism, American Nationalism, and Nature in the Poetry of Robert Frost
• Key words: Robert Frost, poezie, Emerson, nacionalismus, příroda
• English key words: Robert Frost, Poetry, Emerson, Nationalism, Nature
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2016/2017
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK)
• Supervisor: doc. Justin Quinn, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 22.02.2017
• Date of assignment: 22.02.2017
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 08.03.2017
• Date and time of defence: 11.09.2017 00:00
• Date of electronic submission: 30.06.2017
• Date of proceeded defence: 11.09.2017
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: David Lee Robbins, Ph.D.

Guidelines

The aim of this thesis is to analyse three major aspects of Robert Frost’s poetry: first his relationship with Emersonianism, second with American nationalism, and third with the natural world. Besides the strict use of form and the focus on rhythm and meter, these three aspects are to a great extent characteristic for Frost’s poetry, appearing as recurring themes that are developed in many of his poems. Analysing them provides a comprehensive look on the poet’s work as a whole and offers an insight into his unique style distinguishable by its play of imagination, the often unnoticed ambiguity and even obscurity.
The analysis will be based on close readings of Frost’s poems, available critical material, and comparisons with other authors who deal with the same aspects and have had an influence on Frost’s work. With Emersonianism this will include, besides Emerson essays, the works of Thoreau and Whitman. The three authors had indubitably a great influence on Frost. Particularly their concepts of individualism, self-reliance and life in society can be traced in some of Frost’s best known poems such as ‘The Road Not Taken’ or the ‘Mending Wall’. Frost’s take on them however, is much more complex than is generally believed. While he develops the same themes as Emerson or Whitman, his results are much less definite.
Given that in America nationalism is a concept that often overlaps with individualism, it is a something with which Emersonianism also deals in great detail. Thus the works of Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau are again important influences on the theme of nationalism in Frost’s poetry, together with influences that can be traced to the very beginnings of American history and to the Jeffersonian tradition. However, Frost’s nationalism must be assessed within the context of the events that took place during his lifetime. Specifically, the implementation of the New Deal, the Cold War, and, last but not least, Kennedy’s inauguration – at which Frost read his poem ‘A Gift Outright’. In this context, the prominent feature of nationalism in America – the opposition of socialism – becomes even more important for Frost’s poetry. What is also essential to consider in the second chapter, is the poet’s role in forming national conciseness.
In the last chapter I will analyse perhaps the most dominant theme of Frost’s poetry, which is nature. The poet spent a great part of his life in the New England region. For years he lived on his farms first in New Heaven and later in Vermont. The nature in his poetry thus mirrors the nature of rural New England with its long hard winters, life-bringing springs, and deep forests. Still, Frost cannot be considered a nature poet. Nature in Frost’s poetry is a force with which the humans are in constant battle. This fight brings both joy and despair. As opposed to the Romantics and the Transcendentalist (Thoreau and Emerson) Frost does not find the divine, or the always present goodness in nature. Rather through its imagery he explores human psychology.

References

Primary Source
Frost, Robert. Collected Poems, Prose & Plays. New York: Library of America, 1995.
Secondary Sources
Emerson, Ralph W. Essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York: Garden City Publishing co., inc, 1941.
Faggen, Robert. The Cambridge Companion to Robert Frost. Cambridge: Cambridge university press, 2001.
Monteiro, George. Robert Frost & the New England Renaissance. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1988.
Poirier, Richard. The Renewal of Literature: Emersonian Reflections. New York: Random House, 1987.
Poirier, Richard. Robert Frost: The Work of Knowing. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Pritchard, William. H. Frost: A Literary Life Reconsidered. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Richardson, Mark. Robert Frost in Context. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.