Customer Reviews

North of Boston

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Robert Frost took a very different direction in "North of Boston," his second collection of poetry. Rather than the otherworldly naturescapes and human fears, he seems to focus on how people communicate this time around. Unfortunately, he sacrifices some of the poetry's power in the process.

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall," is the first line of one of Frost's more typical poems here, a nuanced work about neighbors rebuilding a wall between them. But then there are poems like "Death of the Hired Man," a long conversation between a man and his wife, about a former worker who has returned home to die. Another is just about a mountain, as told by a farmhand.

Robert Frost even in his more lackluster writings is still a great poet. Unfortunately "North of Boston" is a bit less engaging than his first collection. It's laced with Frost's exquisite phrasing ("A bead of silver water more or less/Strung on your hair won't hurt your summer looks"), but is more mundane and grounded.

In the emotional sense, the conversation poetry is quite striking. In a quiet way. Frost seems to have been studying people's interactions, such as the gradual softening of a woman when she finds that someone she had formerly considered worthless is only there to die in a place he loves. On an emotional note, it's beautiful.

In the technical sense, some readers might not be thrilled about the conversational poems, which are mostly composed of two people talking in a rather grounded fashion. ("Stark?" he inquired. "No matter for the proof."/"Yes, Stark. And you?"/"I'm Stark." He drew his passport.) But it is quite intriguing to see Frost expanding his poetry and seeing what else he was capable of doing.

"North of Boston" is not Robert Frost's best collection, but it is an interesting and very well-written one. Just don't expect anything like "A Boy's Will," his first poetry collection.