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A review by blueyorkie
The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems by Edward Connery Lathem, Robert Frost, Robert Frost
5.0
The first category of Frost's narratives is ballads, representing his weakest work in the mode. His first five books contain only four narrative ballads—two in A Boy's Will and two in Mountain Interval. They differ from his other narrative verses in their use of rhyme and stanza and their conventional diction and syntax, which seem traditional to the point of being derivative. Their lack of stylistic individuality is particularly conspicuous in Mountain Interval, where neighboring poems, such as "The Road Not Taken" and "Birches," speak in suppler, subtler, and unmistakably Frostian cadences. Meanwhile, "Brown's Descent" language sounds stiff and generic.
The second category of Frost's narrative poetry is equally traditional—linear narratives composed of blank verse, usually told in the third person. The form seems borrowed from earlier narrative poetry and the contemporary short story, though more concisely described than in either tradition. However traditional in structure, these poems escape the anachronistic manner of ballads. Their language is modern and conversational, their tone understated and austere. Perhaps most significantly, they seem hard-edged and realistic rather than soft or idealized. However, like the ballads, they represent a tiny portion of Frost's narrative work. There are only four such linear narratives in the first five books—" 'Out, Out—,' " in Mountain Interval, "A Place for a Third," and "Two Look at Two" in New Hampshire. And finally, in Mountain Interval, "The Vanishing Red," a brutal and callous tale that is probably Frost's most controversial poem. (To this quartet, one should probably add "Paul's Wife," a tall, rambling story that seems sui generis among the narratives, one not so much linear as a spiral in design.) These four poems are all strikingly concise and controlled.
The dramatic monologues are especially revelatory. Critics often characterize Frost's narratives as "monologues," but the term is usually a misnomer. In the first five books, there are only three dramatic monologues—"A Servant to Servants" in North of Boston, "The Pauper Witch of Grafton," and "Wild Grapes" in New Hampshire. The dramatic monologue emerged as the leading narrative form in Frost's formative years. Brilliantly developed by Browning and Tennyson, it provided a narrative strategy that offered lyric compression and psychological depth of character. It became the central narrative form for early twentieth-century American poets. Robinson, Pound, Eliot, Edgar Lee Masters, and Conrad Aiken all did significant work in the state. Frost's avoidance of dramatic monologue cannot be accidental. Unlike the ballad, the monologue was congenial to his talents. "A Servant to Servants," a dark portrayal of a depressed and exhausted woman on the edge of madness, as Jarrell and Parini have observed, is a poem of memorable intensity. Frost's hesitation with the form came not from what he could put into it, which was compelling, but from what he couldn't include.
The fourth category of Frost's narrative work is the largest and most original. These poems were so innovative in style and structure that there is no conventional name for Frost's verse form even a hundred years later, which I shall call the dramatic narrative. Written in conversational blank verse (except for "Blueberries," which is in rhymed anapestic couplets), the dramatic narratives combine direct dialogue with minimalist narration, usually in the omniscient third person. The conversation predominates, and the narration is strictly descriptive, never offering any overt authorial interpretation of the characters or situations. Instead, the narration sets the scene and describes the characters' actions when not speaking, just as stage directions would in a realist play.
Source: https://www.vqronline.org/articles/robert-frost-and-modern-narrative
The second category of Frost's narrative poetry is equally traditional—linear narratives composed of blank verse, usually told in the third person. The form seems borrowed from earlier narrative poetry and the contemporary short story, though more concisely described than in either tradition. However traditional in structure, these poems escape the anachronistic manner of ballads. Their language is modern and conversational, their tone understated and austere. Perhaps most significantly, they seem hard-edged and realistic rather than soft or idealized. However, like the ballads, they represent a tiny portion of Frost's narrative work. There are only four such linear narratives in the first five books—" 'Out, Out—,' " in Mountain Interval, "A Place for a Third," and "Two Look at Two" in New Hampshire. And finally, in Mountain Interval, "The Vanishing Red," a brutal and callous tale that is probably Frost's most controversial poem. (To this quartet, one should probably add "Paul's Wife," a tall, rambling story that seems sui generis among the narratives, one not so much linear as a spiral in design.) These four poems are all strikingly concise and controlled.
The dramatic monologues are especially revelatory. Critics often characterize Frost's narratives as "monologues," but the term is usually a misnomer. In the first five books, there are only three dramatic monologues—"A Servant to Servants" in North of Boston, "The Pauper Witch of Grafton," and "Wild Grapes" in New Hampshire. The dramatic monologue emerged as the leading narrative form in Frost's formative years. Brilliantly developed by Browning and Tennyson, it provided a narrative strategy that offered lyric compression and psychological depth of character. It became the central narrative form for early twentieth-century American poets. Robinson, Pound, Eliot, Edgar Lee Masters, and Conrad Aiken all did significant work in the state. Frost's avoidance of dramatic monologue cannot be accidental. Unlike the ballad, the monologue was congenial to his talents. "A Servant to Servants," a dark portrayal of a depressed and exhausted woman on the edge of madness, as Jarrell and Parini have observed, is a poem of memorable intensity. Frost's hesitation with the form came not from what he could put into it, which was compelling, but from what he couldn't include.
The fourth category of Frost's narrative work is the largest and most original. These poems were so innovative in style and structure that there is no conventional name for Frost's verse form even a hundred years later, which I shall call the dramatic narrative. Written in conversational blank verse (except for "Blueberries," which is in rhymed anapestic couplets), the dramatic narratives combine direct dialogue with minimalist narration, usually in the omniscient third person. The conversation predominates, and the narration is strictly descriptive, never offering any overt authorial interpretation of the characters or situations. Instead, the narration sets the scene and describes the characters' actions when not speaking, just as stage directions would in a realist play.
Source: https://www.vqronline.org/articles/robert-frost-and-modern-narrative