A Late Walk

A Late Walk

By Robert Frost

When I go up through the mowing field,
The headless aftermath,
Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
Half closes the garden path.

And when I come to the garden ground,
The whir of sober birds
Up from the tangle of withered weeds
Is sadder than any words.

A tree beside the wall stands bare,
But a leaf that lingered brown,
Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
Comes softly rattling down.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.

Summary of A Late Walk

• Popularity of “A Late Walk”: This brief poetic piece of Robert Frost, an American poetic icon, first appeared in his collection, A Boy’s Will, in 1915. The collection was published by Henry Holt & Co. The poem is highly suggestive of the poet’s autumn walk and his realization of its impacts on the animate and inanimate things and the consequential poetic thought of carrying something of the remaining life. The popularity of the poem rests on its ending of carrying something to some loved one.
• “A Late Walk” As a Representative of Nature and Man’s Centrality: The poet, who is possibly the speaker of the poem, shows himself moving in an autumn-beaten field, showing the cutting of the grass and stubbles smoothened with dew. However, he comes to the garden and feels surprised that the birds, too, demonstrate the signs of the heavy frost. The same is the case of the weeds, he states, showing a tree having a single leaf that, too, rattles to the ground, showing the poet that it might have fallen due to his arrival. However, the interesting thing happens that he picks the only remaining blue flower though it is a little faded. And then moves to a person he calls “you” which shows how he and that person are the centers of attention amid this ferocity of natural weather.
• Major Themes in “A Late Walk”: The ferocity of nature, the natural cycle, and implicit love are three major thematic strands of the poem “A Late Walk.” The poet beautifully presents the ferocity of nature through different images. He states that he sees the fields leveled with dew drops, weeds withered with ice, and birds saddened with the autumn. However, one thing makes him realize that this natural life cycle continues even if he stirs a single leaf on a nearby free. Yet, he realizes that amid this ferocity of nature, he has to bring something for the person dear to him. Therefore, the poet takes the bluish flower that has faded in this season and claims that he remembers carrying this aster flower to that person. However, it is not clear who that person is.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in A Late Walk

Robert Frost seems to have used several literary devices to enhance the beauty and meanings of his poem. Some of the major literary devices he has used are as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew” and the sound of /o/ in “When I go up through the mowing field.”
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /g/ in “garden ground”, /w/ in “withered weeds”, and “far from.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /g / in “And when I come to the garden ground” and the sound of /s/ in “A tree beside the wall stands bare.
4. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Robert Frost used imagery in this poem, such as “The whir of sober birds”, “Up from the tangle of withered weeds” and “By picking the faded blue.”
5. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used different metaphors, such as “the headless aftermath” used for stubbles.
6. Simile: It is a figure of speech that shows a direct comparison of things to clarify meanings. Frost used similes such as “Smooth-laid like thatch.”
7. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols such as fields, dew, garden, and birds to show nature and its impacts.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in A Late Walk

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

1. Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows the use of formal and poetic diction.
2. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Robert Frost used end rhyme in this poem, such as aftermath/path and birds/words.
3. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
4. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABAB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
5. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are four stanzas in this poem, with each comprising four verses.
6. Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows an implicitly neutral tone at the start but is loving at the end.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful to quote about how to select a natural gift for a loving person.

I end not far from my going forth
By picking the faded blue
Of the last remaining aster flower
To carry again to you.