We hate to state the obvious, but "Directive" is a Robert Frost poem. So, yeah, there's gonna be some nature up in this joint. In this case, the nature is more than just the setting of the poem's events. Here Frost puts nature front and center, to highlight the themes of the past he seems so concerned with. Describing the stuff of nature is an easy way for the poet to also mark the passage of time.
Questions About Man and Natural World
- How does Frost portray nature in this poem? Positively? Negatively? How can you tell?
- How have the forces of nature changed the scene from the speaker's childhood?
- Does this poem have to have a natural setting? Could the same themes be explored in, say, a city? Why or why not?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
In "Directive," nature is a mirror, nothing more. It simply shows us how time passes—and how that affects us.
Nature has all the power, here, and is the very reason the speaker wants us to travel back into the past and drink from his broken goblet.