Analysis of “The Tuft of Flowers”

1. Analysis of “The Tuft of Flowers” By Amanda Arquette & Kyle Sylvester

2. Robert Frost: The Man • Born on March 26, 1874 • Much sadness throughout life • Poems never focused on own life • Died on January 29th 1963

3. Robert Frost: His Achievements • Won Pulitzer in 1924, 1931, 1937, and 1943 • Won the Mark Twaine Medal in 1987 • Gold Metal of The National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1941 • Participated in the 1961 Inauguration of John F. Kennedy • Had over 40 Honorary Degrees from college’s and universities

4. “Tuft of Flowers” Origins • 1915 • A Boy’s Will • Very similar to other works • “The Wood-Pile” • “Mowing”

5. The Tuft of Flowers http://tinyurl.com/8dgr4yx

6. Summary http://tinyurl.com/8vknvb9 http://tinyurl.com/9aj4uef http://tinyurl.com/6cs48 http://tinyurl.com/9oqjnck http://tinyurl.com/dbdnvk http://tinyurl.com/9nb9s2j

7. Setting • Outside • Rural • Nature • Morning • “I went to turn the grass once after one Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.” (1-2)

8. Tone • Sorrowful • “gone” (3) • “isle of trees” (5) • “alone” (8) • Hopeful • “loved” (27) • “flourish” (28) • “sheer morning gladness” (30) • “kindred spirit” (35) • “glad” (37) • “hoped” (40) • “together” (42)

9. Sound Repetition Rhyming • Heroic Couplets • Each line has 10 syllables • Every two lines rhyme • Rhyme Scheme • Aa, bb, cc, dd, ee, ff, gg, hh, ii, jj, kk, ll, mm, nn, oo, pp, qq, dd, rr, ss, ee • Lines 9-10 and 41-42 are repeated

10. Sound Repetition Consonance • “And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground” (34) • Hear the scythe Alliteration • “On noiseless wing a ‘wildered butterfly” (12) • Butterfly whirling around • “At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook” (22) • See the flowers

11. Sound Repetition Anaphora • “And” (8, 15, 17, 18, 20, 34, 35, 39) • Narrative • Journey • Repetitiveness of life • “I + action verb” • “I went” (1) • “I came” (4, 26) • “I looked” (5) • “I listened” (6) • “I said” (9, 11) • “I marked” (15) • “I thought” (19) • “I left” (25) • “I worked” (36, 37) • “I told” (41) • Shows the action throughout the poem

12. Transition • Anastrophe for emphasis • “But as I said it, swift there passed me by” (11) • “But glad with him, I worked as with his aid, And weary, sought at noon with him the shade” (37-38) • Repetition of “but” • “But he had gone his way, the grass all mown” (7) • “But as I said it, swift there passed me by” (11) • “But he turned first, and led my eye to look” (21) • “But from sheer morning gladness at the brim” (30) • “But glad with him, I worked as with his aid” (37)

13. Symbolism “an isle of trees” (5) - Isolation “went to turn the grass” (1)– Life’s Burdens http://tinyurl.com/9z8df9d http://tinyurl.com/9wxwmqs

14. Symbolism “Finding the butterfly weed” (26) - Combination of wisdom and learning http://tinyurl.com/9u9vn2d “View the leveled scene” (4)- Humans Destroying Nature http://tinyurl.com/95ap2oa

15. Symbolism “a tall tuft of flowers” (22) – Nature, Hope “wildered butterfly” (13) - Wisdom http://tinyurl.com/9nvg6s4 http://tinyurl.com/9oqjnck

16. Works Cited • "Contents. Frost, Robert. 1915. A Boy's Will." Contents. Frost, Robert. 1915. A Boy's Will. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/117/index1.html>. • "An Online Exhibit Presented by Special Collections at Middlebury College." Robert Frost at Bread Loaf. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://midddigital.middlebury.edu/local_files/robert_f rost/lectures_readings/>. • "Robert Frost." Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/192>.

17. Analysis of “The Tuft of Flowers” By Amanda Arquette and Kyle Sylvester