Birches - Robert Frost

Former Member

What is the "hidden meaning" of the poem by Robert Frost? My teacher won't mark my essay because she says I have failed to grasp the meaning of the poem.

I thought the meaning was that life was hard for him and he has been depressed and would like a break but i the end he doesn't want to commit suicide because he knows life isn't that bad. Also, in regard to the last line he is telling people to always have something to aim for in life.

Help me before I murder my English teacher please!

Former Member

In a nutshell, it's part of his collection of what our teacher called "retreat poems" where Frost would relate to his own childhood blah blah.

He talks about how his adult life sometimes gets him down
"when im weary of considerations, and life is too much like a pathless wood..."

He also wants to have the same attitude he had when he was younger, (became jaded) but he's careful of what he's wishing for-

"may no fate willfully misunderstand me....Earth's the right place for love"


Kind of like his Stopping by woods on a snowy evening poem, where at the end he hints he'd like to be taken out of life for a while but he has "miles to go before I sleep". He accepts his responsibilities but every so often he has a wee moan about them.

Well thats my take on it anyway and I did alright at A Level.