New Hampshire · Theme
Art and Poetry
How New Hampshire develops Art and Poetry.
Frost reflects on the role of the poet, the difficulty of selling poems, and the tension between artistic inspiration and the practical world, as in 'A Fountain, a Bottle, a Donkey's Ears and Some Books.'
Where it surfaces
- A Fountain, a Bottle, a Donkey’s Ears and Some Books
The chapter centers on Clara Robinson's poetry, the physical books, and the tension between the value of art and its neglect or destruction.
- To E. T.
The narrator cherishes E. T.'s poems and grapples with the intersection of soldier and poet identities.
- The Aim Was Song
The poem itself is a meditation on the creation of art, where the wind is given form and meaning through the human act of blowing it 'by measure' into song.
- Evening in a Sugar Orchard
The narrator imaginatively transforms sparks into constellations, blending observation with poetic vision.
- A Hillside Thaw
The vivid imagery and personification of natural forces (sun as wizard, moon as witch) reflect the poetic craft of rendering natural phenomena into art.