Robert Frost's "Departmental" is a poem that explores the theme of bureaucracy and the ways in which it can stifle individual creativity and freedom. The poem is written in the form of a mock-epic, with the speaker addressing a group of ants as they go about their work in a seemingly mundane and repetitive way.
At first, the speaker admires the ants for their diligence and efficiency, marveling at the way they seem to operate as a single unit. However, as the poem progresses, it becomes clear that the speaker is actually mocking the ants for their inability to think for themselves and their lack of individualism.
In the second stanza, the speaker compares the ants to a "machine" and notes that they seem to be "mechanized" in their work. This comparison highlights the idea that the ants are simply following a predetermined set of rules and are not able to think or act on their own.
In the third stanza, the speaker introduces the concept of "departmental" bureaucracy, noting that the ants are divided into different "departments" based on their specific tasks. This division of labor allows for efficiency, but also serves to limit the ants' ability to think creatively or to explore new ideas.
The final stanza of the poem reveals the speaker's true feelings about the ants and their work. He admits that he does not envy the ants for their lack of individuality and their rigid adherence to the rules of their "department." Instead, he envies the freedom and creativity of the grasshopper, who is able to roam freely and think for himself.
In conclusion, "Departmental" is a biting critique of bureaucracy and the ways in which it can stifle individualism and creativity. Through the use of the mock-epic form and the comparison of ants to a machine, Frost highlights the dangers of allowing rules and regulations to dictate our actions and thoughts.
Departmental
The corpse was dressed in a uniform that had once been blue, but was now faded to a melancholy shade of green. Throughout the poem, Frost uses poetic devices such as personification, allusion, rhyme, and alliteration. He did not touch the moth and continued his course. Rhymes are prominent, chiefly in couplets, occasionally triplets, with one quadruplet. In this Depression-era poem, Frost focuses on the popular theme of social organization. . These hands guiding the speaker, are her ancestors leading her through their stories and nature aroundā¦ Isolation - Edward Thomas and Robert Frost To begin with, Thomas writes in rhyming couplets which create an on-going effect of the individuals story also reflecting the oral tradition of the English countryside.
Departmental by Robert Frost
His role in the arts of literature remains well-known not only in American writing, but in different countries as well, as it is analyzed for the difference in structure. My first reading was right after I had first seen the poem and then I waited three days until my next reading. One is not sure whether, at the end of the poem, the poet is simply stating a fact or he is ridiculing the ants. Just as the manure does, the longer the man sits there and waits for something, the more prone he is to dry up and waste his life. Immediately a grave-looking undertaker appears on the scene and takes the formal position with feelers calmly spread and turns over the dead by the middle of his body and throws him high in the air to carry him away. It is almost a fable, though it implies, rather than states, its moral.
Analysis of Robert Frost's Departmental
Poirier, as his The Performing Self made clear, is a widely read and perceptive critic. Before the last line of the poem, the speaker mentions the setting sun and the evening that approaches as he lays back in his hammock. Even though the poem is irregular in rhyme, frost makes use of internal rhyme such as assonance and alliteration which may illustrate how the character feels comfortable inside but has a fear of the natural environment, feeling almost as if it is against him. . Nor has he been content with the latest edition of The Collected Poems. She shows us the death is certain and unavoidable.
