Poetic Techniques in "The Tuft of Flowers": Understanding Frost's Depiction of Humans and Nature Anonymous 12th Grade

"The Tuft of Flowers" by Robert Frost, a pastoral and ambiguous poet, is a narrative poem structured in the form of heroic couplets. The speaker is a haymaker that looks for a mower, only to find mowed grass, but later discovering a butterfly which leads him to a tuft of flowers. Frost conveys the theme that humans and nature can complement each other through the motif of duality, juxtapositions, and imagery.

Frost's poem begins with a stark description of a setting: “Before I came to view the levelled scene I looked for him behind an isle of trees.” The haymaker is looking for the mower but only finds a levelled scene, one of destruction and desolation. “An isle of trees” is a metaphor, comparing a small group of trees to an island, representing loneliness and isolation. “And I must be, as he had been-alone. “As all must be,” I said within my heart, Whether they work together or apart.” The speaker here speaks in a tone of despair, thinking that all people have to be alone. Then, the speaker sees a butterfly and describes it as “But as I said it, swift there passed me by On noiseless wing a bewildered butterfly.” The speaker personifies the butterfly, and Frost makes use of pathetic fallacy by reflecting the speaker’s feelings...