The Wood-Pile by Robert Frost | Analysis

This video is not sponsored by the timber merchant "The Wood Pile" who came up on Google when I searched for this poem... though their company name is priceless. I hope it's a Frostie reference. Here's a link to the poem (if you are here for the timber merchant you'll just have to look them up yourself): www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...
As always, if you want/need closed captions to better understand the video, just drop me a comment and I'll be happy to add them.
Thank you to Hajun Seo for requesting this video. Hope you like it! :)
So someone called me a "QUEEN" in the comments of one of my videos the other day (again thank you so much Hassan Mirza!). After I'd finished being speechless and flabbergasted by the amazing compliment, I thought to myself, "Queen of Robert Frost poetry? I'll take that." However having rewatched this video I'm doubting my worthiness of the title, as around 12 minutes in I literally say "I have no clue what this means - help me!"
Just proves I guess that I am not perfect and more importantly... poetry is freaking hard to study. PLEASE nobody judge your self worth on how well you can understand and analyse poems. As I briefly touched upon in the video when I talked about suicide - poetry is seen as complex and deep and intelligent FOR A REASON. It's not designed to be instantly and easily broken down by everyone who reads it - especially not teenagers with limited life experience (and frankly, much better things to do) who have 20 poems thrown at them and are expected to evaluate their meaning, memorise quotes from them and then write a succinct essay on a surprise topic about them in a single hour exam.
Yep, it's time for a good old-fashioned rant about the education system, everyone. As I tick off more and more RF poems from my list of ones to analyse, I get more and more overwhelmed by the prospect of cramming all this information into my head in preparation for one exam and boiling it all down to one essay. If you didn't know, I'm currently studying for a Cambridge International A Level in English Literature (9695). And like wtf are they actually playing at making us memorise insightful points about TWENTY POEMS (let alone all the other texts) for an exam in which we'll only be asked about one or two of them?! I feel really lucky that I've been able to get to grips with the poems through video-making because I feel it makes it a lot more interactive and memorable than purely written notes. I have a pretty good memory too and I tend to work quite well in an exam setting. But there are plenty of people out there who don't and I feel like this is a ridiculously overcomplicated way of doing it.
I know I'm being ungrateful here because obviously I'm insanely lucky to be getting an education and qualifications, and I would much rather take this exam than loads of the others out there. But I just wanted to express that I think they make A Levels difficult for students in stupid ways that are completely unnecessary. I'm not talking about difficulty in terms of content here - I mean that failure in this exam could be affected by me just having a bad day, or not being able to remember things right. There's got to be a more efficient way of assessing literature skills.
Wow OK this description is going in some unexpected directions. Back to the actual video... I said in the narration that white feathers have historical connotations of surrender. I have learned since that a more accurate term would probably be cowardice. However, I think that still goes with the idea of the bird beckoning the narrator back to safety, so it's still a valid point to make.
I mentioned Modernism and Romanticism in this video as well which I think are really important concepts to know about when discussing Robert Frost. I broke them down in this video, around 16 minutes in: • A Soldier by Robert Fr...
And of course we must not forget to thank my sources for this video. If you want more info on this poem give these a look - there's plenty I didn't include:
www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fro...
• The Wood Pile revision... (for some reason I'm obsessed with this guy's voice)
www.theatlantic.com/past/docs...
prezi.com/mjdottedxumb/robert...
www.tes.com/teaching-resource... (I didn't pay for this, the preview material actually has some interesting info in itself. just prepare to feel super inadequate compared to the whiz kid student who came up with all those great points)
www.eliteskills.com/analysis_p... (there are some BRILLIANT points made in the comments of this one... just watch out for the trolls)
frostpoetry.blogspot.com/2010/...

[@shaggyboi231]

Thanks for the analysis, I’ve been trying to understand this poem for an essay, this helps a lot!!

[@daizchalkx8490]

You’re welcome, thank you for the comment!

[@daizchalkx8490]

OK if anyone actually bothered to read my giant long description (I literally reached the word limit... hence why I'm carrying it on here in a comment) just thought I'd clear something up about what I said concerning A Level exams, in particular the CIE English Lit examination, which I know a couple of my viewers are also taking. Just in case I implied that examiners expect you to memorise loads of quotes from your texts perfectly - they DON'T. They DO expect you to use at least a few quotes as evidence to back up your points (the more the better) BUT they will forgive you if the quote isn't exactly right. Here's what the syllabus says: "You are *not* allowed to take any books or other materials into the examination room with you. This includes copies of the set texts [...]. Quotations and references will be essential in order to support what you say and to prove that you have a real and secure knowledge. Obviously you should try your best to ensure that everything you quote is as close as possible to exactly what the writer actually wrote, but because this examination is not a test of memory the examiners will not mind a few misquotations - provided that there is never any doubt about what you mean, and about which part of the text you are quoting, a few incorrect words will not cost you any marks, though seriously wrong quotations may do so!" I would argue that this is NOT a very effective test of "real" knowledge and it kind of IS a test of memory... but sorry I digress! My point in putting this here was to clear up any miscommunication in case I accidentally sent any of you into a panic that now you have to be able to recite all of the poems by heart. Just try to remember a few key quotations from each, but don't sweat it too much. If you've studied the poem thoroughly, random phrasings from it should just pop into your head in the exam. Remember, you don't have to quote entire lines - single word quotes are perfectly good too (and I would argue they're even better sometimes, to keep the flow of your argument and focus on the important part of the quote). For example I can't remember the exact phrasing of A Soldier but I can remember the word "ploughed" was used, so I could just use that and that's pretty decent evidence that I've read and understood the poem. Does this make any sense? Sorry I am constantly rambling. This was supposed to be a SMALL comment. Hope it helped anyway. I love you all! ;)

[@hassanmirza9686]

Omg you are legit the most helpful human being. I am doing AS Level Lit as well. We are doing Robert Frost and Howards End for Paper 3 and Twelfth Night and Philadelphia here I come for paper 4. Well, for me I am planning to attempt a passage based question for Poetry so external quotations won't be necessary. Just knowing the poem like knowing it would help. What other subjects are you doing?

[@daizchalkx8490]

Haha and you are legit the loveliest!! Aw I’m not doing any of those texts except of course Robert Frost! Do you like them? Right on doing the passage based questions. My other subjects are Sociology and Ancient History, what are yours? :)

[@hassanmirza9686]

@@daizchalkx8490 Wow!!! Ancient History must be awesome!! I am doing Biology, Chemistry and Physics as well. God Physics is killing me. The other texts are nice enough. Nothing can compare with poetry though. What texts are you doing?

[@daizchalkx8490]

Yeah, Ancient History can be really interesting and I’m learning a lot about these cultures I barely knew anything about before. The downside is there is just so much information to remember - particularly the countless wars between Athens and Sparta and all that. I feel like I shouldn’t complain though next to your sciences - those must be tough!! Just remembering all those Physics equations from GCSEs makes me shudder... best of luck with it all buddy! My other texts are Henry IV part 2 and The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare, Northanger Abbey by Austen, Small Island by Andrea Levy and Death and the King’s Horseman by Wole Soyinka. It’s a really great mix actually and I like them all for different reasons. ☺️

[@chrisgachoka6620]

to expound on the bird, i believe could symbolise society. This is because the safety in surrender you were talking about, could be symbolic of the path society has chosen for the narrator. By rejecting this path the narrator has in essence rejected the path society has chosen for him.(i think this could work, because in some of Frost's poems he addresses the problems of society, like mending wall and gathering leaves to name two of them)

[@nmaurok]

I believe that the decaying maple cord stands for the impermanence of human creation and handiwork, but equally for the impermanence of human life. The implication of the last lines seems to be that it is unlikely that this man simply forgot the wood pile, instead that he died before seeing his work completed. Hope this helps!

[@daizchalkx8490]

LOVE that about the maple cord and what it represents - you are clearly a lot more concise than me at analysing poetry! Could you explain what you mean by the ‘implication’ of the last line though? What about it implies he died prematurely to you? A tone of sadness or pointlessness maybe...? To me it’s always mean he abandoned it (or the narrator THOUGHT he abandoned it, which is arguably more important than what actually happened), so I’m struggling to view the lines from that perspective. :)

[@nmaurok]

@@daizchalkx8490It's the phrase "He spent himself" which gives me the idea that he died during its creation. The following lines which describe the wood-pile's decay are awfully hopeless and suggest to me that the wood-pile is following after the same steps of its creator. By the way, how did you do in your Frost paper? I chose the passage question on "Mending Wall", but I'm second-doubting my response.

[@daizchalkx8490]

Ohhhh that makes more sense now thanks. Oh no, what about your exam is making you doubt yourself? I'm sure you killed it - and there's no point torturing yourself over it now, there's nothing you can do. Just try and accept that everything went how it was supposed to, believe in yourself and don't think about it too much. Though I'm sure you're probably over it by now... sorry this reply is so delayed! I also did the Mending Wall passage question, and it was definitely a challenging one - really felt like I had to think on my feet. Planning to post something somewhere on this channel about how the exam went and all that soon, so I'll talk more about my experience there if you're interested. Thanks for the comments, I love that these videos have opened up discussion about literature

[@johnstultz]

Thank you for the analysis. You have taught me much!

[@daizchalkx8490]

You’re welcome, thanks for the lovely comment!

[@cuchulainnhoward8016]

I believe the poem is about humanities growing in ability to disconnect from sociatle structures. if we examine this in the broader view of frosts work (specifically birches) where trees are often an escape; we can understand frosts broader concerns of our growing inability to disengage reference "id like to go away from earth a while then comeback and begin again"-birches repeated "heavens"-after apple picking woulds as an escape from responsibility "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep"-stoping by woods

[@daizchalkx8490]

That's so cool! Nice one. :)

[@teacherheidi1110]

Hi, TreeFreakDreamer. I'm a student of English Literature department in Korea. Your analysis is very useful. Thank you for your deep thinking and sharing it.

[@daizchalkx8490]

김가은 that’s so cool thank you for the comment!! Glad you enjoyed xx

[@patriciacorraya3981]

Hello Daisy!!! How are you? How was your exam? Which Robert Frost poem and which Story came in the exam? Can you give more essay questions on Henry 4 part 2?

[@daizchalkx8490]

Hi, I'm so sorry I'm replying so late! Have been neglecting this channel recently. I am very good thank you as my A Levels are now all done woooooooo! How are you lovely? I got Mending Wall in my exam. Gonna post an update either on the channel or on my blog soon about how the Frost exam and my A Levels in general went soon, so will get much more in depth there (you know how I love to ramble lolol). And yeah, I will also prioritise getting those Henry IV part 2 tools out for ya. Hope all is well with you xx

[@patriciacorraya3981]

@@daizchalkx8490 Hi!! I can't wait for your videos. And i am fine thank you!! I really need help in Lit since i will give A2 next year. Everything is fine with me. Any vacation plans?

[@daizchalkx8490]

Yeah currently getting stuck into volunteering for my local theatre festival, then I’m going to Cornwall at the end of July to do a week of work experience at a theatre 😍😍😍 (as I’m studying Theatre and Creative Writing at uni starting this September). Just before I start uni I’m also planning to go abroad (for the first time EVER) to Slovenia with my auntie. Lots of exciting plans woohoo! How about you - what are you planning to do this summer? Xx