Robert Frost and the Structure of Irony

Abstract

I will examine the structure of irony in Robert Frost's poetry as the means to the objectivity requisite to the ironic attitude. The arrangement of my study is in three sections: 1) The method of analogy to nature: it is the method of dissimulation which underlies all of Frost's metaphors. 2) The method of characterization: the simple, colloquial diction, the isolated, natural setting and the actions which create the image of the New England personality. This reticent individual is the vehicle for Frost's irony. 3) The style: the nature of his language, the rhythms, sound, and poetic devices which create the ambiguity of tones in his poetry and reveal his equivocal ironic attitude.