An Interpretation of Brodsky's "On Grief and Reason: Essays"

In his article, Brodsky suggests that while Robert Frost and his works are commonly believed to be of a positive disposition, the fact of the matter is that they embody both grief and reason in their rawest sense, and in an ultimately autonomous manner. He supports his argument through his deconstruction of a selection of Frost's works, and poses a pragmatic and connotative interpretation of his usage of diction, imagery, detail, and figurative language.

I absolutely believe that Brodsky's stance is one of merit; however, for me to take it at face value without further scrutiny of both Frost's works and Brodsky's works wouldn't be an opinion of substance. Some of the passages from this article that strike me include Brodsky's ability to effectively explicate lines from Frost's poems, and do so with minimal inference. For example, when Frost writes "Far in the pillared dark / Thrush music went," Brodsky relates the use of the word "pillared" as a connection to ideas of fate and repentance by contextualising it with the presence of cathedrals. In contrast, I am confused at times by his word choice, and how he doesn't follow with an explanation; one notable instance of this would be the term "jocular vehemence".

This essay can deepen our understanding of Frost's works by supplying an alternative perspective in which to approach his works with.

Comments

  1. Sophia HaddoxFebruary 27, 2018 at 1:17 PM

    One particular feature of your analysis I enjoyed is its concise and elaborative nature. I also like the way you believe Brodsky's opinion has merit based on the fact that he always supports his argument with textual evidence and analysis. It was refreshing to hear that you also found some of Brodsky's words or phrases confusing. At times the essay can read a tad pretentious, especially sense the intended audience is anyone who would like to learn more about Frost and his talents.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 6:56 PM

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  3. UnknownFebruary 27, 2018 at 6:58 PM

    When I was first reading this article, I was trying to figure out who his intended audience was, because I also found his word choice to be confusing and a bit pretentious. Even though I understand most of his claims (or at least I think I do?), he could have been more concise and to the point. Part of me also wonders whether Frost ever wrote anything slightly uplifting and why people commonly mistake these poems of having, as you say, a "positive disposition."

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