An Emblematic Interpretation Of Human Subjects In Robert Frost's Poetry

Robert Frost is among the most much-loved,anthologized and household great poets both at home and abroad with the unparalleled honors he enjoyed in American literature of 20 th century.Robert Frost and his works(especially the poems)have long been the research priority of the academia.So many scholars and experts have studied his poetry from various literary perspectives,for instance symbolism,romanticism,modernism,existentialism,and naturalism and so on.Robert Frost had claimed that “If my poetry has to have a name,I'd prefer to call it emblemism—it's the visible emblem of things I'm after.” Although he claimed his poetry to be emblematic,the theory of emblem,in fact,is seldom employed in the study of his poetry.Given his own comment,this thesis seeks to bring together the study of the emblem and the study of literary works to propose a new perspective of interpreting the poetry of Robert Frost.In doing so,this thesis examines how the creative principles of the emblem be used to construct and interpret a variety of human subjects in the poems of Frost.This dissertation consists of seven parts.The first part introduces some basic information of Robert Frost and concludes the previous studies of literature review on his poetry both abroad and at home,with the thesis structure followed.Chapter One is the theoretical foundation to this thesis,which presents a brief introduction of the emblem theory,with a general definition and evolution of emblem theory and then a comparison between symbol and emblem.Finally,it introduces the three prototypical components of emblem: pictura(iconic visual image),inscriptio(verbal motto or epigrammatic phrase)and subscriptio(lengthy verbal explication).Very few scholars or critics delve into Frost's poetry from the emblematic perspective,which implies that further researches should be done in a bid to deepen and expand the study on his poetry.As the main body of this thesis,Chapter Two to Chapter Five submit close reading of some poetry of Robert Frost from the perspective of emblem theory to explore its feasibility and indispensability on poetic reading.Chapter Two mainly analyzes some poems discussing the relations between human and nature in virtue of the emblem theory.With the pictures produced by verbal words,this thesis attempts to explore and reveal the ecological thoughts of Robert.Chapter Three focuses on the relations between human and society from the standpoint of emblem.Through the pictures depicting the dilemmatic relations between human and society,the thesis tries to restore Frost's true implication and unspoken subtext beneath his simpleness.To unfold the poet's reflections on humanity,Chapter Four centers around the interpersonal relations on the basis of emblem theory.Chapter Five attempts to articulate the aesthetic value of appreciating Robert Frost's poetry by virtue of the theory of emblem.The seventh part is the conclusion to this thesis,which consists of the study purpose achieved as well as findings and limitations of this study.Emblem is a theory focuses on visible characteristics,and more significant it is admitted by Robert Frost.Meanwhile,poetry of Frost features visible sign of things.Thus,the author of this thesis deems it is feasible to exert the emblem theory as a perspective of appreciating the poetry of Robert Frost.