Birches Analysis

Mountain Interval1916When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy's been swinging them.

But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.

Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-coloured

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells

Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,

And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed

So low for long, they never right themselves:

You may see their trunks arching in the woods

Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground,

Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair

Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.

But I was going to say when Truth broke in

With all her matter-of-fact about the ice-storm,

I should prefer to have some boy bend them

As he went out and in to fetch the cows--

Some boy too far from town to learn baseball,

Whose only play was what he found himself,

Summer or winter, and could play alone.

One by one he subdued his father's trees

By riding them down over and over again

Until he took the stiffness out of them,

And not one but hung limp, not one was left

For him to conquer. He learned all there was

To learn about not launching out too soon

And so not carrying the tree away

Clear to the ground. He always kept his poise

To the top branches, climbing carefully

With the same pains you use to fill a cup

Up to the brim, and even above the brim.

Then he flung outward, feet first, with a swish,

Kicking his way down through the air to the ground.

So was I once myself a swinger of birches.

And so I dream of going back to be.

It's when I'm weary of considerations,

And life is too much like a pathless wood

Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs

Broken across it, and one eye is weeping

From a twig's having lashed across it open.

I'd like to get away from earth awhile

And then come back to it and begin over.

May no fate willfully misunderstand me

And half grant what I wish and snatch me away

Not to return. Earth's the right place for love:

I don't know where it's likely to go better.

I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree

And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk

Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,

But dipped its top and set me down again.

That would be good both going and coming back.

One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

.: :.

The previous comment is clearly ignorant of Frost’s motives surrounding this poem and is arrogant to perceive that his interpretation of the poem is correct when the nature of Frost’s poetry is highly ambiguous and allegorical. One who had studied Frost more thoroughly would acknowledge the hardships he endured in later life, with only two of his children outliving him. Although his childhood was tainted with the death of his father when his was merely eleven the years previous to that incident would perhaps have been his most enjoyable, and due to that I feel that this poem refers to that period of time.
Although I can observe the sexual connotations illustrated by Frost I feel that the main thrust of his argument encompasses ideas of a retrospective view of his childhood, in comparison to the struggles of later life, and would not have clouded such a time with vulgar propositions of masturbating and sexual experience. For example, in the line: “Until he took the stiffness out of them”, could easily been seen as portraying a sense of masturbation. However I feel that it more strongly relates to the idea that children conform the world to their own needs.
It is clear that Frost has divulged a huge amount of care and consideration into this poem, and although he often attempts to fool the reader in his verse, he would not create such complex images purely to achieve a childish joke. Lines such as,
“You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen”, referring to Ptolemaic astronomy, a belief, held previously, that the worlds were surrounded by crystal spheres, stress this, and many other examples of complex imagery and ideas can be found.
To conclude, those posting comments ridiculing potential connotations, oblivious to more important meanings should take a more profound view of poetry and appreciate its complexities maturely

| Posted on 2009-11-19 | by a guest

.: :.

Does anyone here actually know how to analyze a poem or what??
It's not about "life." That is so shallow and foolish to think. "Well," you will say, "That is only my interpretation of the poem." Well sure, but you interpreted it wrong.
The poem is about masturbation. If you want to interpret it as some pouting rhyme about the trials of life, whatever, but that's not the real meaning of the poem.
Also its not some perverted thing that you giggle about, its natural to do, and at least Frost wasn't scared to even talk about it.
I was going to memorize this poem for speech class, but as I read over it about fifty million times, I realized what it was about and decided to stick with something a little less sexual.
There is a great progression of the thoughts in this poem though, and his transitions are so smooth.

| Posted on 2009-10-05 | by a guest

.: :.

I think the tree plays two roles, one as the person, as Frost, saying people get weighed down in life by many different things, and its better to be weighed down by boys swinging, playing. Life ages us, even the good stuff, better to be aged thru love and living life, than the opposite. The tree is also just the tree while the swinger is Frost himself, wanting to leave life behind for awhile and swing upward and onward, but even though he sounds depressed and hardened by life, acknowledges the beauty of this world and wants to return to it, only rejuvenated.

| Posted on 2009-09-06 | by a guest

.: :.

trust me when i say that if someone wants they can find sexual connotation in almost ANY PIECE of writing...its really stupid, i.e white - ohhhh sperm. give me a break. I feel like we are degrading this poem and insulting the poet. When has a poem ever been written about masturbation??? please tell me - id love to read it.

| Posted on 2009-08-30 | by a guest

.: :.

you guys are right- the poems about masturbation- you should read- nothing gold can stay- its about orgasms

| Posted on 2009-08-14 | by a guest

.: :.

Maybe he masturbated so much he filled a cup...
lol

| Posted on 2009-08-04 | by a guest

.: :.

The poem is about love. When young we learn love through our dominant parental figure. We attach to that love. We swing from the birches as we experiement with the wavering sensations of love and sometimes hate. I believe Robert Frost was heart broken that the young natural love he was experiencing took him back to a place where love was uncomformatable as a child. And now as an adult he reflects and asks the question. If only.I had been kinder and understood the parent as a person being mother or father. It is in understanding our parents are people...They have already experienced the path of youth and have blundered like all. And looking back we sometimes wish we could be young and innocence while knowing the wisdom of age.What could be better than a "swinger of birches"

| Posted on 2009-07-26 | by a guest

.: :.

I have to write a commentary on this for a grade 10 exam, so imagery and diction, and themes are needed. THe only imagery i could find is relating childhood to birch trees... adn i don't even think that is right. Diction could be the way he takes things that seem to be from his past and writes them from his different stages of life. A Theme could be childhood.
Thats all I got from this poem though... :P

| Posted on 2009-06-22 | by a guest

.: :.

ok so he's talking about his childhood, how birches were only bent becuase boys were swinging from them. it was when he was a child that he "conquered" all of his difficulties, by climbing to the top of all the trees "the same way one would carefully fill a cup" so he pushed life to... the highest it got? (not a good explination for that) byt he was careful with what he did becuase if you fill the cup too full it could overflow and it would be ruined... and now that he is an adult the trees are only bent by reality, and he walks in a pathless wood and the twigs hurt his eyes, and he cannot see the same way as he did when he was a kid, becuase he doesnt climb the trees, he just wanders through the forest
that was long

| Posted on 2009-05-21 | by a guest

.: :.

I feel that this poem is about life. much like the trees we can get weighted by life and its roles but also we are the boy or we need to be. Having fun carless and free. free from being the bent trees he is truely free to move up threw the branchs and swing off to new ones but the tree is bent, no longer able to move or grow upward. The sky is the limit or is it the top of the tree? that he is getting to trying to get higher and higher

| Posted on 2009-05-13 | by a guest

.: :.

it might be worth mentioning the freudian reference to the boy 'subdueing' his father's trees one by one

| Posted on 2009-05-04 | by a guest

.: :.

The one that makes the most sense is masturbation, but I asked my teacher and said it's related to war... I'm stressing out, because only a few lines relate 100% to war, and it would be too offensive to put sexually-themed things in school (10th grade)... damn Shoop!!

| Posted on 2009-04-23 | by a guest

.: :.

i think this poem is so fun and plz people so masturbating ur self

| Posted on 2009-03-25 | by a guest

.: :.

Go outside.
you're a rusty relic of times gone by.
lol
I can relate to this poem as I too enjoy masturbation
ihr seid alle spasten.

| Posted on 2009-03-20 | by a guest

.: :.

I think the Fathers Trees were the ladies his father was with...I dont know

| Posted on 2009-03-16 | by a guest

.: :.

The poems theme is a "momentary stay against confusion"

| Posted on 2009-03-12 | by a guest

.: :.

Awesome poem so many ways to interpert with each read.

| Posted on 2009-03-03 | by a guest

.: :.

am a 10th grader and i wuz asked to write a litrey analysis on Birches.to be honest i thouht the poem waz really boring at the begining, but as i read more into the poem irealized that its not just about a boy swinging trees but actually its about LIFE and LOVE. ofcourse i didnt think that in any way it refers to masturbation or sex(though that might be an interpritation.well they wouldnt teach us that in school anyway) i acually think that birches symbolize a temprory escape from the harsh reality of life. i also think that Frost is making a comarision between him and the tree, because like the speaker is burdened with life problems the tree is burdened with ice.at leat thats wut i think

| Posted on 2009-01-05 | by a guest

.: :.

I climbed birches as a boy in Michigan. Later someone pointed me to this poem. It's just great fun to ride them to the ground, and, yes, they are bent forever. Read into it what you will. It's really rather simple. You can't do that when you're an older, accepted poet with deadlines to meet, or whatever stress you're under. Perhaps when life is over we will have such fun in another world.

| Posted on 2008-12-02 | by a guest

.: :.

This poem is all about cycles. Look at the imagery and all the arcs the birch branches make. Its about going and coming back. Its about the cycle of life and growth and love.

| Posted on 2008-11-09 | by a guest

.: :.

Hey everyone! EVERYBODY is giving the same explanation so shut up! NOW!!!

| Posted on 2008-11-07 | by a guest

.: :.

The poem birches by MR frost is all about being nostalgic. the poet sees something very familiar to him which reminds him of his heydays when he was a kid and would be free to do whatever he wanted to do. whether it was to climb the birches tree and bend each and every tree down and bow to him as he had conquered them all. the poet is nostalgic as it remind him of the day when he was carefree and used to do whatever he wanted to do.but at the end he also notes down that he cannot run from the realty that he is an adult and accepts it that he may climb the birch tree as he reach for the heaven but as he clims the top of the tree it bends and bring him down to the earth.the realty that he was born on earth and has to die here and then only he will be able to go to the heven."EARTH IS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR LOVE"

| Posted on 2008-09-30 | by a guest

.: :.

Its about life and whatever that means to you is differnt then me or Robert frost. But really, its just about life. How one minute you are so carefree swinging on trees almost monkey like, nothing to worry about, nothing. While the next life has you in its fist scratchy away, no mercy, and you really wish almost that you were never here to began with. But really it doesnt matter, none of it, cause its life, and thats the way it is. What matters most of life is love and there is no other way to experience it then along with pain and hand in hand with life.

| Posted on 2008-08-13 | by a guest

.: :.

I grew up on a farm by myself (both of my parents worked, my siblings were much older than me) in the age before cable and satellite TV and this poem has a special meaning for me. It goes to show that children don't need the things that we, as adults, think we need or even that children need, in order to enjoy their lives. Taken away from society, from other children, the boy in this poem is forced to find his own way to be a child with the only things he has to do so. I know the exact feeling. I wish I could go back to those days. Life becomes more complicated when you are given more options, more avenues to approach it. As most have said, Frost seems to want to go back to those days with the wisdom he has now, but I feel almost as if - because I feel so myself - the wisdom he has now wouldn't permit him to enjoy such a solitary childhood, because he would know that there was more out there. He just wants to be a bender of birches, to be a child, with a child's mind and a child's outlook on the world. The wisdom he is showing is that we spend our whole lives looking for happiness, but it's because a lot of us have had it and grown away from it. We long to go back.

| Posted on 2008-07-17 | by a guest

.: Authority etc :.

frost places more value on imagination and play than he does on the "truth" which is representative of authority and the ills of adults. its about truth and how its relative.

| Posted on 2008-04-27 | by a guest

.: :.

This is a great poem to read, at first it is a little hard to understand so i thought it was a very boring poem and it implies to a person childhood to adulthood and it also talks about getting acceptance with God and death

| Posted on 2008-04-21 | by a guest

.: God, Heaven, Death :.

this poem reveals a sense of maturity, and getting older..he speaks of his younger days as a boy but also mentions climbing up to heaven, which is mostly likely talking about getting close God. he also speaks of returning, which insinuates that he is not ready to die, but wants to familiarize himself with the thought of god, heaven and death, which once shows maturity and reveals age.

| Posted on 2008-03-11 | by a guest

.: Rebirth :.

I see this as Frost's way of telling us that such a strong force as life can never disappear, only be reborn in another time.

| Posted on 2008-03-05 | by a guest

.: :.

its about a dude that want to go closer to heaven nd den come bk... he doesnt wanna die he jus wants to get as close to god as possible

| Posted on 2008-01-15 | by a guest

.: Sex and other ideas :.

I am writing a paper on this poem, some one asked about how the poem related to sex. I think this is (aside from the simpler interpretation of the poem as a ode to childhood)probably the best interpretation. Masturbation isnt too far either. A few important points to consider. The family of trees which we commonly call birches is Betula, a word which means virgin in Hebrew. Also, think about the meaning of the word "swinging." Often used slangily to describe acts of sexual promiscuity, maybe even conquest. Once you get the idea into your head that this is a poem about playful conquest and "destiffening" of virgins - its hard to get out. I think the ice storms are referring to the natural challenging events that happen to make a woman free herself - yet Frost likes to think that this change comes from bored country boys who "swing" their branches until they eventually buckle.

Also, the part about his eye being hit my branches - birch twigs or whatever you call them were a common tool in punishment. In that way they represent authority.

I agree entirely with the interpretation thats more easily read. He wishes to retreat back to those simple days, where off the ground he was close to heaven..etc. But I think part of what makes this poem so fabulous is that they all exist side by side. I think they are all correct and that Frost intended this ambiguity. Frost is a dark complex poet, even his playful poems like this usually have a deeper meaning - although they seem immediately readable and accessible. Yet in every frost poem Ive read there are darker themes.

I think in a way, this poem is about all the things that birches represent to him. Virgins, childhood playgrounds, authority etc. In order to fully appreciate the poem, one must look into each interpretation - without trying to find which one is "right." I think they all are - intentionally.

The one way that Frost has completely perplexed me, is why he says "his Fathers trees" - whats up with that?

Any ideas? It seems to me that everything else can have multiple meanings, be construed to support every interpretation. "His fathers trees" seems to support only the literal interpretation. Why does he feel the need to set himself in competition against his father? Is this some Freudian thing?

| Posted on 2007-12-06 | by a guest

.: stages in life :.

i also agree with the poem being childhood,but with more meanings the poem talks of the stages from childhood to adulthood when you are "left alone" freedom also nat this age but when it comes to old age,it talks of toughness of life,"wrickles","cobwebs" and he just wants to disappear,take a break to avoid distess.the poem also talks of exploitation of mankind that he wants to take a break

| Posted on 2007-11-27 | by a guest

.: His Viewpoints on God? :.

I think this poem also has some of Frost's views on God. He sees climbing birches as an escape from life. I think he views climbing birches as being close to God, and by saying he always wants to come down means he either doesn't want to die (which is the closest to God you can get) or he always wants to go down because he isn't fully sure if there is a God or not.

Can anyone else see this correlation?

| Posted on 2007-09-17 | by a guest

.: birching :.

clearly this poem has juventide themes. keep in mind that the birch rod was a well-known symbol of authority and schoolhouse discipline in new england colonial (and post-colonial) culture. consider this when re-reading the poem, and you'll begin to evoke the true meaning.

| Posted on 2007-05-23 | by a guest

.: Masturbation :.

I am studying Robert Frost for my English A Level exams, which are in 8 hours, and with my English teacher being a past-examiner, I can tell you it would do you well to write about the different interpretations, even if you don't agree with them. I believe that the poem could be relating to masturbation, but who other than Frost himself knows? All we can do is interpret, but the different interpretations shows a wider knowledge of the poem, as long as each point is supported.

I believe that the poem is about how Frost longs to relive his childhood, with the maturity, understanding and appreciation that he has developed as he grew into an adult. There are sexual connotations within the poem, suggesting that the boy is lonely so he results to masturbation, 'he took the stiffness out of them'.

The monochrome imagery illustrates how children see things so simply, in just black and white, 'black branches up a snow-white trunk'. The last line of the poem is promoting the uncomplicated nature of childhood, 'One could do worse than be a swinger of branches.'

| Posted on 2007-05-21 | by a guest

.: Masturbation :.

I am studying Robert Frost for my English A Level exams, which are in 8 hours, and with my English teacher being a past-examiner, I can tell you it would do you well to write about the different interpretations, even if you don't agree with them. I believe that the poem could be relating to masturbation, but who other than Frost himself knows? All we can do is interpret, but the different interpretations shows a wider knowledge of the poem, as long as each point is supported.

I believe that the poem is about how Frost longs to relive his childhood, with the maturity, understanding and appreciation that he has developed as he grew into an adult. There are sexual connotations within the poem, suggesting that the boy is lonely so he results to masturbation, 'he took the stiffness out of them'.

The monochrome imagery illustrates how children see things so simply, in just black and white, 'black branches up a snow-white trunk'. The last line of the poem is promoting the uncomplicated nature of childhood, 'One could do worse than be a swinger of branches.'

| Posted on 2007-05-21 | by a guest

.: Sex :.

I do not get how this relates to sex in any way or form. Can the people who talked about it please explain further because i am now confused. I used to think that it was about a childs childhood to adulthood and everything that he wants to do in his life, but he just feels like he need to take a break from it all for just a little while. I'm writing an analysis for my Pre-IB class and some of the comments such as the "SEX" ones confuses my interpretation of the poem.

| Posted on 2007-05-16 | by a guest

.: How does it relate? :.

Excuse me, but if the first few commenters ever come back to this site, could you guys please tell me how this poem relates to masturbation? I was reading your comments and I saw that you(pl.) had mentioned the relation of masturbation and this poem and I honestly can say that I do not see how it applies. Perhaps I am not as evolved, (shall we call it that?), and I just dont understand. Please do calm this matter in my mind by replying. I will come back to this website to check. Thank you. --M155c437

| Posted on 2007-05-15 | by a guest

.: BiRcHeS :.

ok.. so i am studying a fair quantity of Frost's poetry for my A level!! Birches is of course one of the poems that is in our anthology, i came across all of the comments left by previous visitors and have to say that i agree with them all. even the masturbation interpration, because poetry is interprataion and there is no right or wrong as long asit can be justified, remembering what Frost wrote about backs up the masturbation theory, he oftern wrote about sex and natures, esspeccially woods, for he and his close friend oftern went for walks in the woods and more oftern than not got lost, this poem therefore links to 'stopping by woods....' and the road not taken'


| Posted on 2007-05-03 | by a guest

.: Frost :.

I, by no means, am a great interpreter of poetry, but I would like to point out that Robert Frost's poems almost always have two-sides. The first and most obvious side is the face value, that he is reminicisng about his childhood and swinging on trees. Is that wrong? Clearly, No, but there is more to it than just that. There is also the underlying meaning of sex or masturbation. I never pick up the underlying meanings myself, but I knew there would be more to it than just missing being a kid. So to get a true understand about how Mr. Frost works, you need to look at both sides of the poem.

| Posted on 2007-03-29 | by a guest

.: the poem :.

well... i dont have a whole lot that i have to say to get my point across, the only thing i have to say is that all these interpritations are good, but not correct... the one true interpritation of this poem is the use of masturbation by the arthur, you can look at any part of this poem and see the reality in its meaning. This is just a joke of sorts written by our dear human masturbating friend, robert frost

| Posted on 2007-03-23 | by a guest