2017-18 AP LIT READING BLOG

In Joseph Brodsky's "On Grief and Reason", he is analyzing two of Robert Frost's poems in order to show the true depth of each. One example of how he supports his argument is when he discusses the two characters, one standing at the bottom of the stairs and the other at the top, and how each of the seemingly unimportant details contribute to the meaning of the scene. The most interesting part of this essay, to me, at least, was how it was written. I had to re-read the essay multiple times in order to fully grasp Brodsky's true meaning and intentions. The way he transitioned in some places left me in shock, mainly because it was so unexpected. However, after fully understanding Brodsky's intentions, I am able to appreciate this essay because it did give me a deeper understanding of Frost's poems. I have read many of his poems before, but never was I able to look at them as deeply as Brodsky did. Every small detail holds meaning despite how seemingly insigni...

Brodsky begins his essay by discussing the poem Come In. He moves through the poem chronologically, and describes the differences that can be seen by individually analyzing each word. His analysis of the poem serves to highlight the fact that Robert Frost is “as American as apple pie.” His basis for this is the distinction between tragedy and terror, and which category Frost falls under. He believes that Frost’s difference from the “Continental tradition of the poet as a tragic hero” is what makes him “American”. The second poem he analyzes is Home Burial . His analysis of this poem was unlike anything I understood from my own experience with reading and discussing it. He repeatedly calls the wife the “heroine” yet also displays many of her qualities which contrast this claim. A “heroine” is generally a woman in a literary work who exhibits great courage or achievements, but this description does not match Brodsky’s analysis at all. He contrasts the characters by “grief and reason”, t...

In Brodsky's On Grief and Reason , he explores the similarities between two Frost poems, "Come In" and "Home Burial." He dives into a deep analysis of the two and focuses on tiny details such as meter, rhyme, setting and tone to show that Frost has a common theme of darkness. I am interested in the way Brodsky writes, for he uses the informal "you" and speaks directly to the reader, persuading them to give their full attention. This helps the reader to connect with the author and bring them to a closer understanding of his complex analysis. He writes, "Let's leave that level as yet unnamed." I have heard Mrs. Mac uses phrases like this in class to persuade us to do something that we don't exactly want to do; I believe they are called subjunctives. Although his sophisticated diction and lengthy sentences are a little troubling at first, he is able to regain the reader's focus by having a conversation with them, instead of a lecture...

Brodsky's article presents a very  in-depth analysis of Frost and two of his works, "Home Burial" and "Come In," which he feels share the same curious attribute of being darker than Frost's other poems.  One way in which these present such a darker tone is in the way they portray human interaction and the language they use to reflect it.  Brodsky is saying that this culminates in a reflection of Frost personally and his life because Frost's own life experiences are what fueled his writings.  He discusses the various emotions, such as grief or fear, that lead to specific elements of the poems.  In fact, Brodsky would argue that every part of these poems were born from Frost's own personal experience, whether readers know it or not.  The lens most appropriate to this work would likely be psychoanalytical criticism.  As we stated in class, this is a notable subversion from new criticism, but I feel it is a good one.  While some of the individual deta...

Joseph Brodsky, in his article On Grief and Reason, analyses Robert Frost's more darker attributes in his poems "Come In" and "Home Burial", and the meaning of the poems as a whole. Brodsky notes that such darker poems are uncharacteristic of Frost, whom Brodsky refers to as "a folksy, crusty, wisecracking old gentleman farmer, generally of a positive disposition.", and that Frost's poems generally do not contain as much depth as these two, thus leading Brodsky to ask why these two are different. Brodsky's explanation for this is the difference between American and European poet's take on nature, for while a European may look at a tree and see a shared history and can create a story of its past, and have a generally positive view of nature and life, while an American views nature as not "friend or foe" but as "a meeting of equals. Man and tree face each other in their respective primal power...", and an American sees no ...

Brodsky's stance in "On Grief and Reason" is to analyze Frost's poems in a way to prove they provide more than the lightheartedness shown from the first read. The purpose is to prove Frost's poetry has deeper and darker meaning especially in Frost's poems. He supports this by using examples of the woman standing next to the man to show human interplay and how it relates to the reason poets use words. He says that language is the "most efficient fuel" which is true in both poetry human interactions in general. All of poetry has to be fully thought about and each word is chosen carefully to convey a specific message and feeling to it. The way Brodsky divides poetry into three roles and sets those roles to the poet himself helps to understand the way Frost thinks and why he writes how he does. Every word holds its own meaning and has its own purpose creating more than one meaning often shown in his poems. Something that confuses me is how Brodsky transi...

In the article "On Grief and Reason" Joseph Brodsky pulls apart the literal meaning from the figurative meaning in the works of the American poet Robert Frost. The meaning that Brodsky manages to unravel from the poems is grim at minimum. "Come In" and "Home Burial" reveal the inner suffering and pain that Frost seems to be struggling with. Brodsky states that "Home Burial" relies on the feelings of grief and reason--which all poetry leans upon. However, Brodsky also argues that grief and reason make up poetry's deeper sense of meaning. Which Frost utilizes in many of his poems in order to evoke multiple emotions from the reader. Brodsky supports this claim of Frosts inner darkness telling the audience to step back from the consuming plot and personal narrative. "The story line has been drawn from experience... what degree is he free from it?" Frost is able to write about the material, and is also able to create deep narratives and ...

On Grief and Reason - Caitlyn Finley Joseph Brodsky analyzes Robert Frost's "Come In" by first looking at the poem on the surface. He looks at the literal content and the style of the poem. He then moves on to analyze Frost's subject, which is the thrush. He delves deep into what the bird literally is and what it signifies. After this, Brodsky analyzes each line of Frost's poem thoroughly.  He focuses on every detail of the poem; "I'd like to urge you to pay very close attention to its every letter, every caesura" (230). He finally brings all of his thoughts together to convey his beliefs on what Frost's poem means. His intent in writing this explication is to back his idea that Frost's poem is truly about death and that it is not the "nature poem" that readers apparently believe it is. Brodsky then analyzes Frost's "Home Burial". He keeps the same strategy in analyzing this poem, starting with the literal meaning, t...

“On Grief and Reason” Blog         Brodsky’s stance is being able to analyze Frost's writings in a way that is not comprehensible or understandable to many other authors. Through Frost's dark and horror filled diction, Brodsky is able to deeply understand and metaphorically explain why he used such language and what made Frost write in this way.          I bought it because Brodsky allows his writing in "On Grief and Reason" to be manipulated by Frost's writing style and it allows him to dive deeper into Frost's life to where they begin to write in the same manner.           What strikes me in the essay is how the title implicitly describes the common tactics that Frost focused on to change how he wrote and make his poems and writing significantly different than all other authors. Another thing that strikes me is how the global perspective allo...

In Joseph Brodsky’s “On Grief and Reason essays”, he introduces the idea that although Robert Frost’s writing may seem light hearted and uplifting, that it really has a deeper and dark meaning behind the text. As an example in the text, he uses Frost’s poem “Come In” to show some of the dark language used in Frost’s writing. He mentions the stanza, “Too dark in the woods for a bird, By sleight of wing, To betterits perch for the night, Though it still could sing.” The line that states that the woods are too dark for a bird gives, enhances the idea of the dark woods. It makes it seem like no living creature would want to go into the dark woods. Brodsky uses “Come In” to show frost preparing for death, compared to “Home Burial” which shows how death in clearly inevitable. I agree with Brodsky on this because of the contradicting sides of each poem. It also shows his use of parallelism in his work. What really made my eyes open was the suggestion of the poem “Come In” really be...

     Joseph Brodsky's "On Grief and Reason" delves into the works of the beloved American poet Robert Frost, and the meaning Brodsky unravels from the poems "Come In" and "Home Burial" reveals the inner darkness of the poet who composed them. "Home Burial", Brodsky argues, relies on the "fuel" of grief and reason, elements which all poetry leans upon, yet he also argues that grief and reason make up poetry's "indelible ink," an in which Frost crafts masterpieces with in order to "reduce the level of [his own ink pot]." Brodsky supports his assertion of Frosts inner darkness by inviting the audience of the poem to step back from the consuming narrative. He poses "Imagine... the story line has been drawn from experience... what degree is he free from it?" Not only is Frost able to write about the material, but he is able to craft illustrious narratives and structures and with in those narratives. Brod...

In Joseph Brodsky's article On Grief and Reason , he asserts that Robert Frost's writing is "American" in the sense that writing is creating a projection of the self, and therefore his writing should be tied to him as a person and author rather than without recognition of the outside world. He does this by defining the key difference between the European poet and the American: that Europeans confront nature and creates story about the nature's past and what it has witnessed, while Americans meet nature as if it has no past, alongside the author who temporarily holds no past, and confronts himself, therefore leading to "terrifying" writing, writing which recognizes "his own negative potential--with his sense of what he is capable of." This creates the suggestion that Frost is a much darker writer than he appears on the surface because of this "terrifying" factor, and Brodsky proves this point through a line-by-line analysis of Come I...

Joseph Brodsky’s On Grief and Reason analyzes and explains two of Robert Frost’s famous poems, Come In and Home Burial . In the essay, Brodsky is able to identify prevalent themes and purposes in the poems by using today’s most common literary lens, New Criticism, as well as the Biographical lens. The brief biography of Frost gives readers and critics of Brodsky an understanding of why Frost has the reputation of being a “terrifying” poet, as well as an “American” and “Countryside” poet. Brodksy is able to explain Frost’s reputation through his analyzation of his poems. When focusing on Come In , he explains the “terror” hidden in the dark images of the poem. Home Burial practices similar dark elements of language but still echoes some things in Come In . Both poems exercise elements of nature and have similar devices making them unique to other poems, like naturistic diction, dark syntax, repetition, etc. These elements are used in every day poetry, but the way Frost uses them make...

"On Grief and Reason" by Joseph Brodsky is an article that analysis the way Robert Frost writes his poems and what kind of writer he is. Brodsky tears apart two of Frost's poems, "Home Burial" and "Come In" by going line by line and interpreting them. From the interpretation of both poems Frost can be seen as a dark American poet. The way Brodsky digs deep into the poem looking at every word, syllable, space, dash, and so on is a way I hardly ever see a poem. At first read of these two poems I got no where near where Brodsky did, I understood that they were dark and the basis of the poem but the deep meaning of it all he draws from them would have taken me forever to understand. I agree with the way he interprets these poems especially "Come In". When he takes the words apart and looks at all the detail I can only stand to believe the way he sees them. I especially liked the look in on the type of bird and the way he saw the trees as being a ...

When articles and essays advance it can be assumed that the thesis is implied or simply laced throughout the body implying some prophetic meaning. However, in Joseph Brodsky's, "On Grief and Reason", it is obvious that the author has one goal he will work to achieve, "I am about to put forth my views and opinions about the lines without any concern for academic objectivity, and some of these views will be pretty dark... I am going to to try to sell him to you as he is...". There are blatant persuasive intentions listed immediately as the audience embarks on Brodsky's work- these intentions quickly transition into action as Brodsky explains and deconstructs the meaning behind Frost's famous poem "Come In". He starts by explaining the difference between American and English authors and how concise yet impactful American poets and literature can be. This persuades any American reader to appreciate Frost because they enjoy his "apple pie"...

Brodsky’s essays are centered around Robert Frost and his writing style, as well as his background. Much like Brodsky, moving in chronological order, the article begins with a brief crash course in the literary career of Robert Frost. The depth of analysis into rather boring concepts makes the entire article come together quite nicely in terms of pacing. One of the first lines references the fact that it is indeed a translation, and it may be course on american ears. Brodsky’s primary observation regarding Frost seems to be that he is “Versed in country things,” for lack of a better phrase. According to Brodsky, Frost was most at home when he wrote about nature. However, this does not preclude him from an affinity with human nature. Part of Brodsky’s observation in “Home Burial” focuses on only one and a half lines which, in Brodsky’s expert opinion, constitute a poem in and of itself. This essay revolutionizes the way we can view Frost’s work in only the first two pages. Frost is a ra...

In this essay, Joseph Brodsky takes readers through his exploration of poet Robert Frost's life and two of his most famous poems. Brodsky believes there is darkness accompanied by lyrical language and creative narrative story-telling present in both of these poems that he demonstrates represent different ideas individually, but both contribute to his beliefs about Frost. He supports this argument by taking readers through "Come In" and "Home Burial" line by line, examining what each word means individually and then looking at how all of Frost's word choices and symbols come together to create meaning. The most interesting part of the way Brodsky creates this essay is in how he equates "Home Burial" to a "Greek drama." He describes every facet of the poem in this manner, from the characters becoming "actors" to the "arena reduced to a staircase," which is the setting for "Home Burial." From this passage that ...

The premise as I see it in Brodsky's is that there is a distinct parallel between European and "American" poetry, American being written and seen in a certain aspect, with Robert Frost the speaker determines that it has more to do with finding something within oneself rather than the traditional European manner. The European manner which Brodsky underlines as some innocent depiction of an event would not be as wholesome when compared to an "American" work, there in a sense is no motive or reasoning behind the characters and setting like say in "Come In" by Frost. Brodsky dives deep into his claims straight away by going over every stanza and line of Frost's "Come In" down to the meanings of every word. This then leads him to further branch out into saying that a simple walk in the woods could mean something more, something grim, which in turn really sold his claims for me as it wasn't hard at all to get the full picture of Frost'...

In his article, “On Grief and Reason” Joseph Brodsky asserts that the famous poet Robert Frost is not only quintessentially American, but also much darker and more somber than the casual reader might observe.  To support this stance Brodsky first defines what an American poet is, then proceeds to analyse two of Frost’s poems, “Come In” and, “Home Burial.”  Brodsky first defines an American poet as one that focuses on the terrifying rather than the tragic and as a poet that views nature as an equal rather than the European view of nature as something familiar and steeped in history.  He then goes on to analyse every sentence, word, and syllable in Frost’s, “Come In” and surmises, after many pages of analysis, that the poem is about death, or at the very least this poem is, “about being old and pondering what is next.”  After his analysis of, “Come In” Brodsky moves on to another Frost poem, “Home Burial” which he spends the remainder of the article analysing.  I...

Joseph Brodsky in his essay “On Grief and Reason” describes the various meanings within Frost’s works.  He works to uncover the meaning of the pieces in order to convince his audience that Frost is masterful and why that is true through two poems.  His goal is to “sell him to you as he is” through two of his favorite works, “Come In” and “Home Burial.”  He first describes “Come In” as a poem about death.  The poem illustrates a man wondering if he has the ability to conquer death and if it when it will eventually take him.  He backs his argument with the ideas of “nature poetry” and how poets in America see the natural world.  It was hard for me to see and understand the connections made in this section.  The most interesting part of the essay is the discussion surrounding “Home Burial.”  The way Brodsky describes the simplicity of the diction allows the poem to first become reality.  I was able to hear the poem and understand the use of Fros...

Brodsky begins his essay by discussing the poem Come In. He moves through the poem chronologically, and describes the differences that can be seen by individually analyzing each word. His analysis of the poem serves to highlight the fact that Robert Frost is “as American as apple pie.” His basis for this is the distinction between tragedy and terror, and which category Frost falls under. He believes that Frost’s difference from the “Continental tradition of the poet as a tragic hero” is what makes him “American”. The second poem he analyzes is Home Burial. His analysis of this poem was unlike anything I understood from my own experience with reading and discussing it. He repeatedly calls the wife the “heroine” yet also displays many of her qualities which contrast this claim. A “heroine” is generally a woman in a literary work who exhibits great courage or achievements, but this description does not match Brodsky’s analysis at all. He contrasts the characters by “grief and reason”, the...

Joseph Brodsky analyzes Robert Frost's poems 'Come In' and Home Burial', detailing the dark themes of both. They are briefly compared, but emphasis is put on 'Home Burial's elements of dialogue and communication. An interesting comparison made about 'Come In' is the parallel of a bard and a bird, suggesting Frost's personal role within the poem. For the longer piece, 'Home Burial', Brodsky suggests that the nature of a pastoral may apply to this narrative, but not in full. Most of the dialogue, Brodsky states, adds a vehemence to the piece that then accentuates the ominous nature of the piece. His central claim is that 'Come In' examines the thoughts surronding death while 'Home Burial' describes the inescapable tension after it.    I sympathize with these claims for the simple reason that there is a parallel between the two poems. One seems to be a continuation of another, but with a whole different appraoch and issue addres...

In the essay, "On Grief and Reason" by Joseph Brodsky, the author believes that while Robert Frost's poems may seem positive, they are usually full of darker and deeper meanings. Brodsky supports his argu ment by analyzing every line, word, and even certain letter arrangements . In certain ways I agree with his argument , but I also feel as though some of his analyses   were far- fetched . I agree with some of his ideas because I understand that there are many different ways to view something. For example, I felt as though his analysis of "Come In" was very effi cient and accurate . When my class discussed "Come In" in class, we had similar ideas for what the poem was really about . I also believe that his analysis of "Home Burial" was scattered. I found it hard to follow. While his ideas can't be wrong, I feel as though his analysis was unconvincing at certain parts . His discussion on "Come In" interests me because wh...

In the essay “On Grief and Reason,” Joseph Brodsky focuses on the poetry of Robert Frost and how he uses tragedy, darkness, grief, and reason within his work, especially in the poem “Home Burial.” Brodsky believes that Frost relies on grief and reason because they are “language’s most efficient fuel” or “poetry's indelible ink.”  He argues that within this poem, Frost reveals his feelings towards his relationship with life and his wife after the loss of a child. There is a power struggle between the two characters in the poem due to their lack of adequate communication and understanding of the other’s feelings. Brodsky describes this power struggle by comparing the relationship to a pas de deux, or partnering dance, of misunderstandings. He does this by focusing on the physical positioning of the couple in relation to one another. I do agree with this comparison, because in ballet there has to be communication between partners; everything must be planned and discussed. If t...

  In Joseph Brodsky’s essay “On Grief and Reason”, he argues that Robert Frost’s poetry contains a deeper and darker meaning. He supports his stance by analyzing two of frosts poems, “Come In” and “Home Burial”. He breaks down the poems into smaller parts and analyzes them separately. After he discovers the smaller meanings he is able to connect them together into a central theme. From a stanza to a line to a word, Brodsky is able to find the meaning of the poem. Brodsky uses this strategy to prove Frost’s darker meanings in his poems. Because of his accurate and precise descriptions his explanations are hard to argue with. Because of this, I do buy into his argument, after looking back on Frost’s poetry that I have already read I began to notice that they all did seem to have a darker tone to them. Also, analyzing in this way shows a pattern in Frost’s word choice that I had not noticed. This was very interesting to me because I had not realized that he had such a neg...