Robert Frost's "The Figure a Poem Makes"

An illustration of Robert Frost's "A Road Not Taken"

           Robert Frost, an American poet, wrote The Figure a Poem Makes in order to explain to the general public how a poem should be formatted and what a poem should include. Frost describes how a poem should surprise both the writer and the reader, how the poem should start, and how it should end. He explains that the poem should find “it’s own name as it goes” and it “begins in delight and ends in wisdom” (Frost 177). In his description of the poetry, he includes numerous rhetoric devices that sprinkle the essay with graceful and melodious statements. His audience, the general public, is kept interested by his use of personification, similes, metaphors, and beautiful imagery. As stated above, Frost declares that a poem should find “it’s own name” and that, at the end, it “run itself and carried away the poet with it” (Frost 177-178). This personification and the other rhetoric devices incorporated into the essay give the readers a visualization of the poetry and help them to understand how they should feel while writing a poem; thus, convincing his audience about the way a poem should be created. Frost also includes strong diction, creating an informative yet graceful and wonderstruck tone. This tone gives the readers insight to how Frost feels while writing and, thus, how they should feel. He effectively creates a vision of what a poem should be and how it should be created by doing this, informing his audience well. With these rhetoric devices, The Figure a Poem Makes was quickly published in 1939 as a preface to Collected Poems. Collected Poems is a book of Robert Frost’s poetry up to that point in his life, giving Frost credibility in The Figure a Poem Makes by showing he has experience with his topic. As the book was open to the public, Frost’s essay was also posed to the public, showing them how to construct a poem. Frost uses a combination of strategies to create an awe-inspiring essay about poetry that has helped to inform the public and will continue to for many years. 

Picture Citations

"Road Not Taken Drawing." Oahow.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2016.

Works Referenced

"Collected Poems by Robert Frost, First Edition, Signed." Abebooks.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Aug. 2016.