(4) Base Camp

The poem really is simple enough, especially the first stanza. It is narrative in form, so we can follow along pretty easily. It gets some credit on the Tough-O-Meter scale for the Shakespeare allusion, but you can appreciate the poem fine without that. The only tough part about the poem is the idea presented in those last two lines. The syntax gets a little tricky and the ideas get tougher to breathe in as we move up into that philosophical air. Overall, though, you're still pretty safe with Frost. Happy trails, gang.