Oven Bird

Archit Shukla
C. Srygley
AP Literature
6 February 2012

Oven Bird by Robert Frost

There is a singer everyone has heard,Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.He says that leaves are old and that for flowersMid-summer is to spring as one to ten.He says the early petal-fall is pastWhen pear and cherry bloom went down in showersOn sunny days a moment overcast;And comes that other fall we name the fall.He says the highway dust is over all.The bird would cease and be as other birdsBut that he knows in singing not to sing.The question that he frames in all but wordsIs what to make of a diminished thing.

Initial: Upon reader Oven Bird by Robert Frost, I feel that Frost intends to write this poem to classify and describe the interconnection of seasons. Using analogies and puns, Frost describes a circular connection between the four seasons—summer, fall, winter, and spring. Throughout the poem, there is a reference to “he,” which can be interpreted as the creator of seasons or god. The arrangements and sentence structure is rather simple yet elegantly placed.
Paraphrase:
There is a singer all have heard,
Loud, like mid-summer or mid-wood
Who makes the tree trunks sound.
He says that leaves are older unlike flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past,
When fruit-bearing trees fall fast
On sunny days a swift cloudy overcast;
And comes the season of fall.
He says the dusty highway is on all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

SWIFTT:
S: Oven Bird, a poem by Robert Frost, is a sonnet in structure and contains a couplet in the first two sentences. There is a simple rhyme scheme and a total of five sentences covering fourteen lines. The sentences themselves are not vastly difficult to interpret, yet the simplicity of the sentences adds an elegance and “flow” to the poem. W: There is use of puns, “then comes the other fall we also name fall” in referring to the season. The overall usage of complex and double-meaning words is not evident; however, connotative words like spring, overcast, and diminished add necessary details. There is also use of assonance in “I” and “O” vowels to describe the seasons as they change and connect.I: Frost uses imagery, specifically visual imagery, to depict the change in seasons. For example, “when pear and cherry bloom went down in showers” is a one of the many lines that depict the transformation of summer to early fall. Frost also describes the scenery as it pertains to a specific season, adding to the visual imagery. Further, the seasons described in Oven Bird are connotatively used as their counterparts—summer as vitality, spring as rebirth, winter as decay and death, and fall as harvest.F: Although no obvious use of figurative language, the use of personification in describing the birds as they sing and communicate with one another can be classified. Again, the use of a pun and specific word usage overtakes any figurative language. T: The tone of Frost’s poem is questioning, curious, and possibly somber. Frost even uses a seeming rhetorical question in “what to make of diminished things” to gain insight onto other thoughts and opinions. T: The theme is generically the intertwined nature of season and its connotative impact on the surroundings. The use of the bird as a symbol for humanity reflects this impact such that the bird is cheerful and singing in spring, but isolated and quiet in fall and winter.
Final: Initially, I felt that Oven Bird, by Robert Frost, was a simple poem describing the changes in nature; however after my analysis, I see that Frost’s intent was to describe the connotative natures of the changes in seasons as it relates to humanity. The bird referenced throughout the poem serves as a reminder to humanity’s response to changes in the seasons. Further, the lack of activity and response in summer, the sense of abandonment and quietness in fall, the ominous nature of winter, and the excitement and noise of spring represent what Frost and many of us feel about the seasons. Frost’s use of simple sentence structure and connotative words add to the appeal or opposition to specific seasons. Secondly, Frost uses imagery and personification to relate the changes in the seasons as humanity sees it.