In both poems, Frost addresses the theme of mortality both directly and indirectly, exploring not only the random and often violent nature of death, but even its dangerous attraction. . “Out Out” deals with the former, choosing to challenge the romanticism often attributed to it by depicting the violent and accidental death of a young child. Undoubtedly influenced by the mass killings seen throughout World War I, Frost's portrait of a narrator seeking to blame even inanimate objects—like the chainsaw—provides a metaphor for the search for meaning and direction when both are absent. Although it opted for a more structured and regular form (in terms of verse and meter), "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" approaches death in the same way, developing a dominant feeling of isolation that reflects the community response in “Out Out — until the child dies.” Certainty and uncertainty are frequently juxtaposed in both poems, undermining any sense of assured knowledge and emphasizing humanity's utter helplessness in the face of its own mortality. But above all, although "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" does not in any way attempt to "explain" death, it suggests an acceptance of it that is not visible in "Out Out"'s attempts to reconcile with death. the random and meaningless nature of mortality. In this way, the former can therefore easily be seen as a development of the latter, marking Frost's growing acceptance of death, even his desire for it. In their refusal to romanticize death, both poems choose to undermine the Romantic movement of the late 19th century, instead reflecting an era of modernism in which, after World War I, much belief in religious values ​​and conservative, the structures that underpin contemporary society began to deteriorate. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"? Get an original essay Through the use of a first-person narrator, Frost gives both poems a distinctly human perspective, allowing him to fully exploring humanity's relationship with death: "Jumped on the boy's hand, or seemed to jump, / He must have given him his hand." Here, in “Out Out —,” Frost’s use of personification in the repeated “jump” gives the chainsaw a kind of malicious intent – ​​as if the boy is the victim of an outside force. Additionally, the frequently repeated and heavily onomatopoeic phrase "snarled and shook" contains other connotations of violence, once again depicting the chainsaw as an intentionally harmful living creature. However, this attempt to divide the "good" and the "bad" - the "victim" and the "perpetrator" - is clearly erroneous, the contrast between the certain connotations of "must" and the dubious "seemed" serving to into question the narrator's ability to distinguish truth from invention. His failed attempts to distribute responsibility only highlight the indiscriminate and often random nature of mortality; It is because of this sense of chance that death loses the meaning or higher significance that was frequently attributed to it by Romantic poets. Frost's use of a singular, unstructured stanza, especially when combined with the lack of regular rhyme and meter, serves to reinforce the lack of stability and order seen throughout the poem, while that the expression "sticks of wood fallen from the length of a stove" contributes greatlyto the general feeling of uselessness - he refuses to mention the specific goal of the action, focusing only on its immediate result (the somewhat vague "wooden sticks the length of a stove"). The impersonal, almost passive connotations of the term “abandoned” once again suppress any sense of positive progress. The ideas of unnecessary violence that we find throughout the poem, against a backdrop of an unsuccessful search for moral responsibility, most likely have their roots in the First World War; Although the poem is not a direct metaphor for human conflict (its themes of helplessness in the face of mortality are too universal to be limited to mere "war"), the poem is perhaps an example of the effect of the First World War on attitudes towards death, emphasizing the fragility of human life. Similarly, Frost incorporates ideas of uncertainty in “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”: “Whose woods these are, I think I know. / His house is in the village though'. Here, in the first line of the poem, the direct juxtaposition of "I think" with "I know" once again undermines the extent of human "knowledge", emphasizing the narrator's uncertainty about the nature of mortality - unfounded ideas (“thinking”) are placed on an equal footing with factual “knowledge” (“knowing”). However, the owner of the "house" is perhaps meant to be the personification of death, with the immediate connotations of "village" suggesting a closer and more direct relationship with death than that seen in "Out Out —", where mortality is represented. as a detached and entirely arbitrary entity. The use of a regular rhyme scheme and stanza structure, combined with the consistent use of iambic tetrameter, contributes to a calmer, more contented tone of voice; written 8 years after "Out Out —", this is perhaps indicative of an aging Frost's growing willingness to accept mortality. While both poems position humanity in a position of total submission to death, it could be argued that, in each, Frost handles this position in different ways - where "Out Out" further comments on the meaningless nature and often violent tale of mortality, “Stopping at Woods on a Snowy Evening” explores its dark appeal, describing the woods as “beautiful, dark and deep.” Perhaps symbolic of death, the both seductive and menacing connotations of "dark and deep" serve to clarify his feelings about mortality, expressing a strange desire for it without questioning his complete ignorance of its nature. However, through the connections they make between mortality and the natural world, both poems choose to further subvert the style of the Romantic movement that dominated previous years: "And from there those who looked up could count / Five mountain ranges one behind the other / under the sunset all the way to Vermont.” Here in "Out Out –", Frost's use of assonance, combined with the repeated enjambment, places strong emphasis on the expanse of the landscape, painting a vivid picture of natural beauty that, at At first glance, would seem to be a very romantic scene. picture. However, the connotations of heavy physical labor in "lifted" contrast with the relatively simple act of looking upward, emphasizing how detached workers are from the natural world and, by extension, the substantial effort required of them to adopt it. This preoccupation with human "affairs" is a theme that recurs throughout the poem, extending further into Frost's presentation of mortality: unable to understand or even recognize the natural world, humanity is left to thank you.