Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- Wait a second. Shmoopers, what's the poem about? Loss? Memory? The past? The Holy Grail? Woodpeckers?
- This poem was written near the end of Frost's long and illustrious career. Does the subject matter mirror that fact in any way? In other words, what, in this poem, feels like an old guy passing on wisdom to the younger folks?
- In what ways does this poem remind you of a Grail quest?
- What's with the blank verse? Knowing what you know about the form, why does it seem suitable to the subject matter (if it does)?
- This poem has a very particular voice. It's one speaker telling us, his audience, where to go and what to do. In other words, it's chock full of directives. But why? Why not write this poem as a personal story? Why write it in directive-form?
- What's up with the setting of this poem? How does its rural environment reflect its themes?
- There's a whole lot of personifying going on in this poem. Over and over again Frost gives something from nature a human trait. What's the effect of that?
- Is this journey entirely metaphorical? Or do you think the speaker might be describing a real place we can visit? What makes you say so?
- What do you make of the final lines of the poem? Are they happy? Sad? Redemptive? Haunting? Healing? Utterly inscrutable?