An Analysis of the Images in The Wood—Pile

【Abstract】Robert Frost is one of the most popular American poets in the 20th century. His poems derive from the life of the countryside and have a lot in common with the poets in the nineteenth century， but in contrast he has less modern style. The remarkable feature of his poems is to use images commonly found in life to express thought-provoking philosophical ideas. An analysis of decayed images in The Wood-Pile is intended to help readers better understand Robert Frosts poems.

【Key words】Robert Frost； decayed images； nature； wood-pile

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】焦慧琳（1996.02-），女，山東日照東港人，山東師范大學(xué)外國(guó)語學(xué)院，碩士在讀，研究方向：學(xué)科教學(xué)英語。

1. Introduction of Robert Frost

Robert Frost is one of the most famous American poets in twentieth century who claims to be satisfied with the use of “old forms to express new content”. And he had sensitive insights into life and thus he was used to using images easily seen in real life to suggest profound meaning. His poems are attractive to a large range of readers， because they can be appreciated in so many ways. But for many reasons， he won the recognition of his poems in the second half of his life.

2. The feature of images in Robert Frosts poems

The selection of images has close relation with Robert Frosts life experience. He used popular language， familiar rhythm and daily life images and symbolism to describe the moral trend of the quiet countryside in New England. His description of nature often contains profound， symbolic， and even metaphysical meanings.

Robert Frost was used to using images of nature such as “road” and “woods” to express profound meanings. As in “The Road Not Taken”， the image “road” is used to represent the choice in life. Scholars believe nature is an important way of expressing the poets inner thoughts.

3. Decayed images in The Wood-Pile

“The Wood-Pile” mainly describes the feelings of the poet when he was strolling in a marshland one day. One day， the sky was dark and the poet came alone to a frozen marshland. First entering the swamp， he felt lonely， desolate and fearful. He wanted to go home. But then he completely rejected this thought， he wanted to move forward and go inside the swamp. When people first arrive in a new place without knowing what will happen， curiosity often promotes people to move forward to find out. The hero in his poem is such an emotional change. A bird suddenly appeared， it was alert， and the poet was always separated by a tree. Later， the poet discovered a pile of firewood. This pile of firewood has caused a series of thoughts of the poet.