Frost and Formalism: Diction, Meter, and Imagery in The Star Splitter Anusha Sreekant College

Robert Frost is one of the most widely-read poets in the American literary tradition. His poetry and themes have been profoundly impactful, garnering readers across national boundaries and inciting generation after generation of critics, fans, and students alike. The poetic exploits of Frost succeed at employing, to remarkable effect, tools ranging beyond the rigid compartments of form or content, roping them all together into an intrinsic unity that makes them memorable encounters. This paper, therefore, attempts to study the elements of his poetic structure, with a focus on The Star Splitter, staying as removed as possible from biographical correlation to his personal or professional life while simultaneously attempting to maintain as much as is possible of the inherent unity of the poem.

The Star Splitter is an interesting poem for several reasons, not the least of which is the cadence with which Frost handles a subject of such aesthetic and philosophical magnitude. MH Abrams talks of diction as "the selection of words in a work of literature". The delivery of The Star Splitter exhibits an astute dexterity with the use of colloquial language as a technique for which the poet is much acclaimed. Colloquialism in Frost reminds...