Robert Frost "Birches" and "Mending Wall"

Robert Frost's poem "Birches" was full of self interpretation and personal theories. After reading the poem multiple times, i discovered what i thought to be many sexual references. In my opinion, the author is describing the difficulties of manhood, constantly referring to and remembering the joys of childhood. In other words, he feels as if childhood, and the luxury of multiple sexual endeavors is better than that of manhood, where one generally settles down. For instance, in the poem it states "So was i once myself a swinger of birches. And so i dream of going back to be." To me this refers to "swinging" from one girl to the next instead of "love". Similarly, the "pathless wood" symbolizes the freedom adolescence brings. But as seen in the poem, with age comes expectations, and with expectations comes the formation of a path with only one direction. Throughout the poem, the birches refer to females and their development in different "seasons" and the boy refers to the authors view of adventure, curiosity, and changes in manhood.

The second poem "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost in my opinion is about boundaries that an individual makes in his or her life. In other words, people have the choice to block out and ignore certain ideas, information, and theories while accepting others. In the poem, the blocking of ideas is associated with the "boulders" while letting in objects is associated with the "fence". As i interpreted it, boulders are large and solid objects, thus letting nothing pass. On the other hand, fences are not completely solid, allowing some ideas to pass through, but not all. This to me showed the freedom that individuals have to preserve personal ideas, keeping certain things to their self. In my opinion the poem also had reference to individuality. For instance, in the poem it states "Before I built a wall I'd ask to know what I was walling in or walling out, and to whom I was like to give offence". To me this quote shows that people may have different opinions on what is acceptable and unacceptable, ultimately absorbing many different ideas.

Being the first two Robert Frost poems i have ever read, i found the author and his writing to be very different and interesting. His poetry makes people think, giving room for different interpretations and mental pictures.