Robert Frost Summer Poems
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Summer Poetry: Audio and Analysis
Robert Frost was a master at capturing the nuances of different seasons, and summer is no exception. In these poems, we find summer captured in a variety of ways. It is portrayed as a time of flowers, a time of work... and as a "diminished thing" (the time after spring has lost it's luster).
Some of the images are quite different than those a school child (or teen) would use to characterize the season. Exploring contrasting images, though, could be a good exercise in summertime learning.
Some of Frost's seasonal poems do depend on background knowledge, like a familiarity with New England species or of customs in Frost's day. I have provided some context -- my own thoughts and a few favorite web resources.
I have also done audio readings for several poems -- just click on the "Listen!" button under the pictures.
Unless otherwise noted, all images are my personal or family photo collection.
Some of the images are quite different than those a school child (or teen) would use to characterize the season. Exploring contrasting images, though, could be a good exercise in summertime learning.
Some of Frost's seasonal poems do depend on background knowledge, like a familiarity with New England species or of customs in Frost's day. I have provided some context -- my own thoughts and a few favorite web resources.
I have also done audio readings for several poems -- just click on the "Listen!" button under the pictures.
Unless otherwise noted, all images are my personal or family photo collection.
Contents at a Glance
Reflecting on these Poems
Reading a poem,or listening to it, are both helpful for understanding. Reading forces a person to give consideration each line; when a person listens, on the other hand, a bit of the work has been done for them. Another good exercise is sketching the images --something that can be done while listening.
Rose Pogonias: Audio
"Rose Pogonias" is an idyllic summer poem in some ways, but there's a conflict here that appears in several of Frost's poems.
In Frost's time and place, mowing was about something very different than keeping one's yard tidy -- it was about providing hay for the farm animals in winter. Thus is was solid, respectable work, but it left the world less beautiful. The poet does not want to see this cluster of flowers mowed down!
Listen!
In Frost's time and place, mowing was about something very different than keeping one's yard tidy -- it was about providing hay for the farm animals in winter. Thus is was solid, respectable work, but it left the world less beautiful. The poet does not want to see this cluster of flowers mowed down!
Listen!
A Tuft of Flowers
"A Tuft of Flowers" is another poem that reflects ambivalence toward mowing the grasses. Here are a variety of resources from YouTube, including narration... and, yes, someone singing the poem to the tune of a mandolin.
It can be a good exercise to compare and contrast versions. Have your child begin with the basics (i.e. spoken or sung) and move toward more sophisticated concepts like the mood the poem evokes.
It can be a good exercise to compare and contrast versions. Have your child begin with the basics (i.e. spoken or sung) and move toward more sophisticated concepts like the mood the poem evokes.
curated content from YouTube
Hyla Brook
A reader understands a poem more easily if she is able to make connections between the text and her own experience or knowledge. While I live across the country from Robert Frost, I observe some natural phenomena, and have a bit of the same reaction.
I live in a land where there is a lot of water, but the summer is thedry season; I can definitely imagine a brook that has "run out of song and steam" -- dryer and somewhere older -- even in June.
Listen!
I live in a land where there is a lot of water, but the summer is thedry season; I can definitely imagine a brook that has "run out of song and steam" -- dryer and somewhere older -- even in June.
Listen!
The Oven Bird: Audio and Discussion
In "The Oven Bird", Frost personifies one of the summer's noisiest songbirds, casting it as someone who is loudly disappointed in the summer (and possibly a bit puzzled by it). Summer just isn't as lovely as spring, the oven bird notes.
I don't see evidence in the poem (as some have suggested) that Frost saw himself as the oven bird, less or diminished in middle age. I do think that a lot of us have a bit of that oven bird in us, though. We may mourn the loss of brightness, newness, freshness -- while ignoring that what's around us is in its prime.
Listen!
Image Credit: irish_eyes, Morguefile
I don't see evidence in the poem (as some have suggested) that Frost saw himself as the oven bird, less or diminished in middle age. I do think that a lot of us have a bit of that oven bird in us, though. We may mourn the loss of brightness, newness, freshness -- while ignoring that what's around us is in its prime.
Listen!
Image Credit: irish_eyes, Morguefile
The Real Ovenbird
In understanding this poem, it helps to know that there is indeed a bird out there in nature that is called the oven bird.
I am not familiar with the oven bird, so when I was first seeking an understanding of the poem, I looked it up. The following page offers a nice introduction to the species -- and even lets you hear its call.
I am not familiar with the oven bird, so when I was first seeking an understanding of the poem, I looked it up. The following page offers a nice introduction to the species -- and even lets you hear its call.
- The Ovenbird
- A multimedia introduction to the species.
More Analysis of The Oven Bird
- On the Oven Bird
- Here we find discussion by a number of people, some discussing the meter, others exploring allusions.
- The Oven Bird Online Poem
- Here is the text of the poem and some short interpretations written as comments.
The Rose Family: Audio
I wasn't aware, before reading "The Rose Family", that the rose was related to several flowering fruit trees.
It was a hunch, though, that this emerging scientific knowledge was what Frost had been musing over -- so I looked it up.
What I like best about this poem is how Frost turns it around at the end and makes it a love poem. It's preposterous to call the apple a rose -- ah, but not to call the person the poet is addressing one!
Listen!
It was a hunch, though, that this emerging scientific knowledge was what Frost had been musing over -- so I looked it up.
What I like best about this poem is how Frost turns it around at the end and makes it a love poem. It's preposterous to call the apple a rose -- ah, but not to call the person the poet is addressing one!
Listen!
More Resources
For Understanding Robert Frost's Summer Poems
Here are more resources. Some are written for teaching Frost's poetry.
- A Tuft of Flowers and Mowing
- Here Sparknotes puts two poems with similar images into context.
- Hyla Brook and The Oven Bird
- a Guide for Teachers
Thoughts to Share?
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KarenCookieJar
Jun 23, 2011 @ 8:54 pm | delete
- I was just reading some Frost the other day, great poet!
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jamespete
May 28, 2011 @ 1:48 pm | delete
- Hey, thanks---and have a good trip. I used your lens here on my just published lens on Frost's "Design." A lot of talking.
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by KarenTBTEN
Hi. I'm a teacher and a writer. One of my passions is stringing words together -- and another is reading them out loud! I enjoy recording audio (publi... more »
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