New Hampshire · Chapters

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Chapter companions for New Hampshire by Robert Frost.

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Chapter 1
New Hampshire
The narrator reflects on encounters with people from other states who boast or complain about their regions, contrasting their commercial attitudes with New Hampshire's lack of interest in selling anything. He describes an old friend who returned from California ashamed of having sold 'old rags,' and praises New Hampshire for having just one specimen of everything, not for sale. The poem explores themes of commerce, authenticity, regional identity, and the tension between nature and human ambition.
Chapter 2
A Star in a Stone-Boat
The narrator reflects on a fallen star that a laborer mistook for a stone and used to build a wall, contemplating the loss of wonder and the mundane fate of celestial objects. He searches for meaning in stone walls and the sky, finding a flawed but complete world in his hands.
Chapter 3
The Census-Taker
The narrator, acting as a census-taker, visits a remote, dilapidated house in a desolate mountain area, only to find no one living there. He reflects on the emptiness, decay, and the melancholy of counting souls in a place where people have vanished, ultimately declaring the area deserted.
Chapter 4
The Star-Splitter
Brad McLaughlin, a failed farmer, burns down his house for insurance money to buy a telescope, fulfilling a lifelong curiosity about humanity's place in the universe. The narrator recounts the town's mixed reactions—mockery and forgiveness—and describes nights spent stargazing with Brad, questioning whether such cosmic observation truly improves our understanding.
Chapter 5
Maple
The poem explores the life of a woman named Maple, whose unusual name given by her dying mother shapes her identity and marriage. She and her husband search for the meaning behind her name, ultimately accepting its mystery as a defining force.

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New Hampshire

A Star in a Stone-Boat

The Census-Taker

The Star-Splitter

Maple