Girl's Garden example essay topic

Natalie Boyle Dr. Nge nge English 150 September 29, 2003 The Elements of "A Girl's Garden" In "A Girl's Garden" by Robert Frost, the theme expressed is the unique pleasure of a rural childhood, as well as the girl's youthful exuberance about the garden she grew. The speaker is a neighbor of the girl, who is now an adult woman living in town. The speaker tells the story, attempting to convey the importance of the garden to the adult woman because of the joy she still takes in reminiscing about her experiences, regardless of the perceived success of her efforts. This is achieved by excellent use of tone, rhythm, and imagery. The tone of the poem is consistently light and pleasant. From the beginning the girl remembers the experience fondly, as shown in lines 2-4 "likes to tell how one spring when she was a girl on the farm, she did a childlike thing".

The poem goes on to describe how the young girl asked her father for a garden of her own. The father's response of "Why not?" and decision to give her a small, walled-off piece of useless land, as well as his comments in lines 13-16 suggests that he was humoring her because he knew it would be quite an undertaking. In lines 37 - 40 "her crop was a miscellany when all was said and done, a little bit of everything, a great deal of none", the text at first seems to change tones. Yet the speaker ends the poem by reiterating the woman's pleasure of telling the story of when she was a "farmer". When taken into context with the rest of the poem, the tone has not changed.

Regardless of the outcome, the theme is that the value was in the learning experience and the pleasure the woman has even as an adult. The poem is mild-mannered and seeks to take the reader away from their daily life, as opposed to requiring heavy philosophic or morbid contemplations. The poem is very rhythmic and melodic. It follows a prescribed pattern with every second and fourth lines rhyming.

Each section is further divided into four line stanzas, with a similar amount of syllables in each line. The stanzas are not precisely identical, but close enough to allow a musical flow. The speaker reminds us of the age of the child using rhythm by describing her embarrassment at carting a wheelbarrow of manure down the road, which when hearing someone come caused her to run from "her not-nice load" and asking everyone for seed, resulting in her planting "one of all things but weed". The rhythm continues to support the theme, as well as the tone. By following a clean, simple, and harmonious pattern it continues to evoke a sense of childhood reminiscence and does not obscure the message by being overly complicated.

Throughout the text, the imagery is brilliant, enabling one to visualize the setting, smell the country air, and empathize with the girl. In lines 9-10 .".. an idle bit of walled-off ground where a shop had stood", the speaker presents a clear image of the location of the garden. Other memorable passages refer to her pushing a wheelbarrow of dung, and planting "begged seed" ranging from potatoes, radishes, lettuce, peas, tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkin, corn, and even fruit trees on her little patch of land. The word choice is descriptive, but not overly complicated, remaining in adherence to the tone and other elements.

This allows for the utmost impact possible because by allowing the reader to easily visualize what is happening, the events become much more interesting and creates feelings of empathy and delight at the girl's progress throughout the poem. Several factors are combined in the creation of a poem; among these are word choice, rhythm, tone, and imagery. These elements may be considered separately. However, for an optimum reading experience every aspect should blend together and complement the others carefully. Just as an artist chooses her palette or a chef seasons his recipes, the poet must consider each individual aspect and how it will enhance the whole poem. "A Girl's Garden" by Robert Frost is a perfect example of how this is done effectively.

The rhythm is steady and melodic, rather than contrived. The words chosen are thoughtfully put together in a way that evokes rich images, without becoming wordy or convoluted. The result is a poem that effortlessly accomplishes the simple purpose of telling a story, which is why "A Girl's Garden" is still a timeless pleasure for readers and an inspiration to writers eighty-five years after later..