Read “Mowing” by Robert Frost and “The Baler” by Seamus Heaney. By close analysis, compare and contrast how the poets write about farm work.
This is an essay which compares and contrasts the work of Frost and Heaney for A Level English Literature. As well as a full essay, I have includ...
Read “Mowing” by Robert Frost and “The Baler” by Seamus Heaney. By close
analysis, compare and contrast how the poets write about farm work.
Both Heaney and Frost lived in rural environments, influencing their
pastoral poetry and inspiring them to write about farm work. Both poets focus
on a common agricultural task to convey an allegorical portrayal of universal
life, as is evident in their chosen titles. In “Mowing” Frost places emphasis on
continual labour and its purpose, questioning the significance of his farm work.
He writes that there “was never a sound beside… my long scythe whispering
to the ground”. The sibilance mimics the sound of the scythe, whilst the
personification dictates a level of secrecy to the reader, implying that the
labour holds the answers sought by the persona. Likewise, Heaney focuses
on an individual aspect of agriculture in his title by emphasising the
importance of machinery and “The Baler”. Heaney was a young child at
Mossbawn where he grew up in an agricultural environment, and he reflects
on how farm work has influenced him both in youth and old age. He writes “All
day the clunk of a baler / Ongoing, cardiac-dull”. The onomatopoeic noun
“clunk” conveys frailty to the reader. Additionally, the comparison “cardiac-dull”
irrevocably links the machine to the heart and vitality. Therefore, Heaney uses
the traditional farm work of haymaking to explore the concept of his own
mortality as he entered old age.
However, the poems are presented in different ways and focus on
different aspects of life, which is clearly reflected in the form of each poem.
Frost utilises a non-traditional sonnet, allowing him to explore two different
aspects in the octave and sestet. In the first eight lines, Frost questions the
purpose of farm work and adopts a fantastical outlook influenced by “Fay or
elf”, focusing on the sound of the scythe and the task of mowing. The Volta
marks a distinct shift in subject, with the sestet answering the persona’s
question as he determines that farm work provides fulfilment in life. There is
little enjambement throughout Frost’s work as a result of purposeful
punctuation, creating a direct and practical tone. The irregular rhyme schemes
creates a level of interconnectedness throughout the entire poem conveying
the bond between the strict practicality of farm work and fanciful imagination,
indicating to the reader that labour may hold both, symbolising the duality of
life.
Contrastingly, Heaney’s eight tercets are extensively linked by
enjambement, representing the connection between different stages of life, as
represented by the agricultural land. The enjambement creates a quick pace,
, signifying that the agricultural world is forever changing. This symbolises how
each stage of life is fleeting. This is supported by the irregular rhythm, which
symbolises an irregular heartbeat and connotes deterioration. There is no
rhyme, conveying the harsh reality of encroaching death to the reader, and the
tragedy of not appreciating the simplicities of farm work (and by extension,
life) whilst one can. Heaney was recovering from a stroke at the time of
writing, encouraging him to reflect on human mortality and his own
approaching death. Whilst both Heaney and Frost start with a relatively
uplifting tone and are told in the first person (to reflect personal experiences of
life and labour), Heaney’s “The Baler” includes with a much more melancholic
atmosphere as a result of his preoccupation with death and decline,
represented by the changing agricultural seasons.
Both Frost and Heaney explore the value of labour and forming in their
poetry, expressing the beauty of the task. Frost exalts labour because “It was
no dream of the gift of idle hands, / Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf”. The
metaphor alludes to several fairy tales and fragments of folklore popular in
New England, where fairies would provide wealth. Frost employs this to
express that hard work is more rewarding than easy money. The metaphor of
the “gift” conveys the labour’s difficulty to the reader, but the persona accepts
this as a source of purpose and fulfilment in life. Here, the difficulty of the farm
work symbolises Frost’s struggle in poetry, and the dedication he has to his
work. Although it is difficult, “Mowing” indicates that Frostis satisfied with his
artistic endeavours. Likewise, Heaney reflects upon the value of farm work
throughout life, as he writes of the joy it provided him with in his youth Heaney
finds himself “missing: summer’s richest hours / As they had been to begin
with”. The caesura slows the pace of the poem, reflecting the symbolic weight
of Heaney’s memories. It also introduces the discussion of the role of farm
work throughout the duration of the poet’s lie, marking a shift to the past. The
superlative conveys the supreme happiness found in the labour, as the poet
adopts a positive tone to remember his youth. This indicates to the reader that
the farm work has provided Heaney with pleasant memories of beauty.
However, the seasonal metaphor suggests that these experiences will not
occur again with the land now that Heaney has passed the “summer” of his
youth.
Furthermore, both poets use the medium of fam work to convey the
struggles of life to the reader by expressing the difficulties of the labour. Frost
portrays the hardship of life by acknowledging that his fields are “Not without
feeble-pointed spikes of flowers… a bright green snake”. The flowers are a
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