New Hampshire · Question
How does New Hampshire develop the theme of Mortality and Loss?
Answer
New Hampshire by Robert Frost develops Mortality and Loss across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
Death, grief, and the passage of time pervade the collection, seen in 'In a Disused Graveyard,' 'To E.T.,' and the haunting presence of the dead in 'The Witch of Coös.'
The decay of the house and the absence of people evoke a deep sense of loss and the passage of time.
Maple's mother dies shortly after her birth, and the name becomes a lasting connection to that loss.
The grindstone's idle state and the memory of past labor evoke a sense of transience, loss, and the passage of time, symbolized by the Father-Time figure.
Evidence in the book
- The Census-Taker
The decay of the house and the absence of people evoke a deep sense of loss and the passage of time.
- Maple
Maple's mother dies shortly after her birth, and the name becomes a lasting connection to that loss.
- The Grindstone
The grindstone's idle state and the memory of past labor evoke a sense of transience, loss, and the passage of time, symbolized by the Father-Time figure.
- Place for a Third
The chapter centers on Eliza's death and the negotiation of her final resting place, highlighting grief and the desire for control over one's legacy.
- Two Witches
The skeleton in the attic and the murder it represents, along with the Pauper Witch's decline from youth to poverty, underscore themes of death and loss.
- I: The Witch of Coös
The skeleton represents death and the unresolved past; the mother's confession reveals a murder and the haunting consequences.
- An Empty Threat
The poem invokes Henry Hudson's dark fate and the extinct Great Auk, meditating on failure, death, and the haunting legacy of lost endeavors.
- I Will Sing You One-O
The poem contrasts the eternal, unchanging stars with human history of conflict and decay, evoking a sense of loss and the transient nature of human endeavors.
