Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mud Time"
On the surface, "Two Tramps in Mud Time" seems to display Robert Frost's narrow
individualism. The poem, upon first reading it, seems incongruent, with some of
the stanzas having no apparent connection to the whole poem. The poem as a
whole also does not appear to have a single definable theme. At one point, the
narrator seems wholly narcissistic, and then turns to the power and beauty of
nature. It is, however, in the final third of the poem where the narrator
reveals his true thoughts to the reader, bringing resolution to the poem as a
single entity, not merely a disharmonious collection of words.
At the outset of the poem, the narrator gives a very superficial view of ...
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upon the "unimportant wood". The appparent
arrogance of the narrator is revealed as well by his reference to himself as a
Herculean figure standing not alongside nature, but over it: "The grip on earth
of outspread feet,/The life of muscles rocking soft/And smooth and moist in
vernal heat."
Unexpectedly, the narrator then turns toward nature, apparently abandoning his
initial train of thought. He reveals the unpredictability of nature, saying
that even in the middle of spring, it can be "two months back in the middle of
March." Even the fauna of the land is involved with this chicanery; the arrival
of the bluebird would to most indicate the arrival of spring, yet "he wouldn't
advise a thing to blossom." The narrator points to the conclusion that, while
on the surface, things appear to be one thing, there is always something hidden
below, much like "The lurking frost in the earth beneath..."
In the final three stanzas of the poem, the "frost" within the narrator comes to
the ...
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Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mud Time". (2005, November 13). Retrieved May 22, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Frosts-Two-Tramps-Mud-Time/36390
"Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mud Time"." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 13 Nov. 2005. Web. 22 May. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Frosts-Two-Tramps-Mud-Time/36390>
"Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mud Time"." Essayworld.com. November 13, 2005. Accessed May 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Frosts-Two-Tramps-Mud-Time/36390.
"Robert Frost's "Two Tramps In Mud Time"." Essayworld.com. November 13, 2005. Accessed May 22, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Robert-Frosts-Two-Tramps-Mud-Time/36390.
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