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Frost Discusses
Poetry, Politics
by Stephen Brumberg
"Life is cellular," began
Robert Frost as he confronted a group of students sprawled around
a fraternity library the afternoon following his Chapin Hall appearance.
Captivating his audience with a unique display of wit and intelligence,
Frost drew on the wisdom of his years to comment on life and art.
"Life," he continued, "is composed of cells. The
family, college, nation, city, county, church, even the communists
have cells." He expressed the belief that life must be contained
within certain forms or it is devoid of meaning.
In this discussion, he made repeated allusions to his poem "Mending
Wall": "Good fences make good neighbors." Every
entity, personal or communal, must operate within a given structure,
but these "fences" are always changing: "Life is
cells breaking down and building up, biologically and politically.
There will always be cells."
Free Verse
Nevertheless, much creative work occurs outside the structure,
"Just as there can be religion outside the church and education
outside the university, there can be good poetry outside the institution
of verse. I belong to the institution outside poetry in the prose
poem I deliver before my poetry readings."
However, Frost does not feel constrained by these self imposed
bonds. Rather, he finds his thoughts fitting naturally into the
framework of verse. Frost is a conscientious student of his art
form. He read poetry from his youth and especially liked Keats.
However, he has always maintained a broad balance of reading in
other poets. In comments on the effect of his poetry-reading on
his work: "I remind people of many poets. I had a liberal
education: I majored in no poet."
Politics of Politics
Poetic form did not occupy his conversation for too long: "I
get so sick of the politics of poetry that it's nice once in awhile
to turn to the politics of politics." And he did. Here, Frost
was at his most biting. He is violently opposed to President Eisenhower's
proposed plebiscite for the world. "Imagine letting everyone
vote on the fate of our counties. All these years, out the window,
just like that. No nation of any greatness would surrender itself
to a plebiscite."
Eisenhower, according to the poet, is "a nice boy",
but no politician. Frost referred particularly to a conversation
with General Eisenhower after the war in which Ike told him, "I'm
not interested in politics; I am a soldier."
Speaking on politics in general, he said, "I admire men who
took less power than they could have had - men like Washington
for example." These men saw their boundaries and knew when
to stop and make way for others.
Passionate Preference
Within the cells in which he operates, Man's glory is still his
freedom - the freedom of "passionate preference". Man
advances by means of this preference which involves him in one
pursuit as opposed to another. "I can't let alone of it"
is the Vermont expression Frost used to characterize this instinct.
"The young should lead with their impulses"; but they
should use the wisdom of the aged to guide them. Reason must act
as a governance on the impulses of human nature. Human progress
and development is the result of the application of reason to
the way that impulse leads us.