LITERATURE

ON A TREE
FALLEN ACROSS
THE ROAD

THE AUTHOR ROBERT FROST

POETS BACKGROUND

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874,in San

Francisco.
His father, William Prescott Frost Jr. and his
mother, Isabelle Moodie, had moved from
Pennsylvania shortly after marrying.
He became interested in reading and writing
poetry during his high school years in Lawrence.
In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White,
whom he does shared valedictorian honors with
in high school and who was a major inspiration
for his poetry until her death in 1938.
The couple moved to England in 1912, after
they tried and failed at farming in New
Hampshire.
It was abroad that Frost met and was influenced
by such contemporary British poets as Edward
Thomas,Rupert Brooke, andRobert Graves.
In England, Frost also established a friendship
with the poet Ezra Pound, who helped to

ON A TREE FALLEN ACROSS THE ROAD

The tree the tempest with a crash

And yet she knows obstruction is in

of wood

vain

Throws down in front of us is not to

We will not be put off the final goal

bar

We have it hidden in us to attain,

Our passage to our journey's end

Not though we have to seize earth

for good,

by the pole

But just to ask us who we think we

are

And, tired of aimless circling in one

place,

Insisting always on our own way so.

Steer straight off after something

She likes to halt us in our runner

into space.

tracks,
And make us get down in a foot of

SUMMARY OF THE POEM

The speaker weaves a tale of travellers moving down a path, they

come across a tree that has fallen across the road. The tree stops the
travellers in their tracks and impedes forward progress down the path.
Without an axe, the travellers stand there debating what to do about the
obstacle in their way. The speaker recognizes the travellers will eventually
overcome the obstacle laying across the road and continue their journey.
On the surface, this poem reflects our ability to overcome the obstacles
we face in our lives. However, I believe this poem goes much deeper.
Frost uses very finite words in several lines. The words, "crash, "bar" and
"halt", give the poem a feeling of abruptness. I do not believe the speaker
was saying we can overcome any obstacle, but that we have very defining
moments in our lives that make us stop and think about or analyse exactly
who we are. The old statement, "What does not kill us, makes us
stronger", comes to mind when I read this poem.

MEANING BY STANZA
First stanza
The tree the tempest with a crash of wood
Throws down in front of us is not to bar
Our passage to our journeys end for good,
But just top ask us who we think we are
Insisting always on our own way so.
-

Sets the stage and holds a message for the reader of the poem.

- I belive Frost was saying that we live life confidently, falsely believing we are in control of
our own destiny. We set goals and believe the path to our final destination is clear cut
and will offer no obstacles to impede our victory. Nonetheless, everyone must face the
harsh realities of life at some point. The reality is that we do not control the world around
us and when faced with an uncontrollable event we are halted in our tracks, and are
faced with the decisions about our future that are not in our well mapped out plan.

Second Stanza
She likes to halt us in our runners tracks
And make us get down in a foot of snow
Debating what to do without an axe.
- The next three lines tell us more about how the speaker feels we deal with
the realities of the unexpected events in our lives.
- Frost is stating that we do not look for the unexpected but believe that
everything will go just the way we demand it to. When the unexpected
happens we are left dumbfounded and confused. I believe the reference to
snow may refer to the bleakness of not knowing what to do in the face of
an obstacle so profound.

Third and Forth Stanza

And yet she knows obstruction is in
vain:
We will not be put off the final goal
We have it hidden to attain,
Not though we have to seize earth by
the pole
And tired of aimless circling in one
- the poem state that we will continue from this point on and achieve
place,
victory despite the temporary setback caused by the obstacle.
Steer straight off after something in
Perseverance is mapped out in our futures once we are tired of
space.
walking in circles trying to decide where to go. We do not need to
"seize the earth by the pole" or be in direct command of our future our future will forge ahead on its own.

LITERARY DEVICES
Personaficati
on
throws
down in
front of us
is not bar
she likesto
halt us in
our runner
tracks
and yet she
knows
obstruction

Hyperbole

Metaphor

debating
what to do
without an
axe
not through
we have to
seize earth
by the pole

and tired of
aimless is
circling in
one
place,steer
straight off
after
something
into space

THEME
Human versus nature
In this poem the theme arrives about human and
nature. Nature here represents the nature of
human and not the surroundings. Actually we all
have hidden personality within ourselves but
mostly we do not tend to think about it as it will
puzzled our life.

ISSUE CONCERN
Human ability to solve problems in life.
- Humans able to solve problems through
discussion, tolerancy and asking
opinions from experienced people.
Human have ways to overcome problems.
- if there is a will there is a way.
- there must have solution on every
hardship
in life.

TONE AND MOOD

The feeling of satisfaction

From the poem, we can see the feeling of satisfaction

when the travellers resolve the problem which is
removing the fallen tree across the road.

Humans can think the way to solve problems in their

life by themselves and not depending to others.

For instance, the speaker mention about how the

travellers will find a way to overcome their obstacle in
order to continue their journey.

THE END
THANK YOU!