Birches

BY ROBERT FROST
When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy’s been swinging them. Commented [1]: metaphor for childhood bliss
But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do. Often you must have seen them Commented [2]: this is the more logical
Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning explanation for the birch trees bending
juxtaposed next to the childish explanation
After a rain. They click upon themselves
As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored Commented [3]: fall- changing colors and
As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. getting colder
Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells
Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust—
Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away
You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen. Commented [4]: describing the snow as white
They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load, and beautiful, just like heaven
And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed
So low for long, they never right themselves: Commented [5]: permanently bent
You may see their trunks arching in the woods
Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground Commented [6]: the trees stoop down
Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair because of the ice storms
Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.
But I was going to say when Truth broke in
With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm
I should prefer to have some boy bend them
As he went out and in to fetch the cows— Commented [7]: goes back to a description of
Some boy too far from town to learn baseball, his childhood- wants the explanation to be
something fun and childish, rather than dull
Whose only play was what he found himself,
and scientific like the ice storms
Summer or winter, and could play alone.
Commented [8]: the way he describes this
One by one he subdued his father's trees makes it seem really personal
By riding them down over and over again
Until he took the stiffness out of them,
And not one but hung limp, not one was left Commented [9]: explains that the reason for
For him to conquer. He learned all there was the bend in the trees is because a boy is
swinging and hanging on them- metaphor for
To learn about not launching out too soon
childhood bliss versus the dull nature of
And so not carrying the tree away adulthood
Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise
To the top branches, climbing carefully Commented [10]: very detailed description,
With the same pains you use to fill a cup maybe this is something the writer has
experience with
Up to the brim, and even above the brim.
Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,
Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.
So was I once myself a swinger of birches.
And so I dream of going back to be.
It’s when I’m weary of considerations,
And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twig’s having lashed across it open.
I'd like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate willfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it's likely to go better.
I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
Commented [11]: states that this is something
the writer used to do in his youth, which
provides useful contextualization of the text
Commented [12]: when adulthood gets too
dull, boring, and painful, he wishes to go
back to his childhood where he only had to
worry about swinging on the trees
Commented [13]: life gets in the way and
becomes painful - the things that used to
bring him joy are now the ones that hurt him
so
Commented [14]: wants to experience youth
again
Commented [15]: wants to end as it
began/return to his youthful days where he
didnt have to worry about all the
worldly things of adulthood
Commented [16]: the tree grows up towards
the sky, which is what is usually considered
to be heaven
Commented [17]: reach the peak, then be let
back down by the dips created by his
childhood swinging
Commented [18]: thinks that the "birch
swinger" is a representation of youth and
childhood bliss. by saying one could do
worse, he is admiring the joy this "job" does/
the joy he felt in his youth
 Birches seems to be about the comparison of a joy-filled youth and a dull

adulthood. Frost begins by describing a boy swinging from birch trees, creating dips in

the trees. Right after this description is juxtaposed a dull explanation of why these dips

in trees are actually created. Frost says that the bends found in these birch trees are

actually created by snow and ice piling up on the trees, adding enough weight to

eventually bend the trees permanently. He describes this process in a way that is not

very creative or engaging, showing his disinterest in the subject. Frost explains that he

would much rather believe that the bends and dips in the birch trees are created by a

boy swinging on them over and over again until they are stooped over. His description

of the boy swinging contains much more detail and joy, showing that perhaps Frost

himself used to swing from birch trees as a child, even going as far as to say he himself

was a birch swinger once. He compares the dullness of a pathless wood to the wonder

that a little boy feels when he explores the forest by swinging on trees. His joy when

describing the youthful swinging compared to the dullness of the description of the

weather draws parallels to childhood and adulthood.

I think that in this poem, Frost is making a comparison between adulthood and

childhood by using the birch trees as a metaphor. He says that sometimes when life

feels too much like a pathless wood, he wishes to be the boy swinging from the trees

again. In the context implied, this means that when adult life feels meaningless and

repetitive, Frost wishes to go back and experience the pleasures he enjoyed as a little

kid. He associates swinging from birch trees with his childhood, likely because that is

something that he did as a child. Because of this association, this is the experience he

would like to go back to when thinking of his childhood.

 In this poem, he juxtaposes the dull descriptions of the “scientific” explanation for

the bends in trees with the happier description of the boy swinging from the trees. This

is done to make a comparison of the dull and unexciting nature of adulthood with the

happiness that a child feels. His comparison is almost like a cold and rainy day

compared to a warm and sunny day. The way he describes the youthfulness of

swinging from branches has more hope and light than the other descriptions. This is

likely because he felt more hope and light in his own childhood, as most children do. In

his adult life, he is feeling more pain, hopelessness, and generally purposeless. These

are all things that he did not feel as a child when he was swinging from birch trees.

Throughout the poem, Frost establishes that childhood is much more enjoyable

than the pain of being an adult. He ends the poem with the phrase “One could do worse

than be a swinger of birches”, showing that, although many people associate being

childish with negative qualities, it does come with a more exciting life. He sort of implies

that childhood (being a swinger of birches) is better than his boring and dull adulthood.

This overall theme of the enjoyability of childhood is present throughout the poem,

mostly through his warm descriptions of swinging from birches compared to the dull

ones of the scientific reasoning behind the behinds in the trees. Establishing throughout

this poem that he would like to return to being a birch swinger implies that he

sometimes imagines being a child again. This is something that he invites and acts

upon, rather than hides. He acknowledges that his youth was good and his adulthood is

kind of dull, and he has the urge to do something about it.

Overall, this poem makes a comparison between adulthood and childhood,

posing that sometimes going back to childhood days could be enjoyable. Through the
use of metaphors, Frost establishes this comparison, talking about birch swinging

(youth) and ice storms (adulthood). The juxtaposition of these descriptions shows their

drastic differences. Throughout the poem, Frost invites the idea of youth into his adult

life, showing that being “childish” can be a great escape from the more dull reality.