Scholars have various perspectives on the research about Frost’s poems. Among those perspectives, there are two main different angles. The first one is about the themes and emotions Frost expresses in his poems. Through the intensive reading about Frost’s works, many scholars start to do the explanation about the themes the works intends to convey. Among them, On Grief and Reason written by Joseph Brodsky analyzes horrible implications in the Frost’s poems, which highlights the image expressions he inherits from European convention. In addition, From the perspective of narratology and feminism, Li Yingxue in her works explores the theme of Frost’s poems and female view Frost expresses. In “Critical Essays on Robert Frost” written by G.K. Hall, the themes are also regarded as the focus. Secondly, it is about the research on the artistry of his poetic language. Through the textual analysis, the scholar also analyzes the language skills and features. For instance, Ezra Pound in Modern Georgics analyzes the language of Frost’s poems in detail and reflects the unique characteristic of his poems. Moreover, Zhang Shuguang further explains the forms and rhymes that Frost uses.
Based on the research about the themes of his poems and language he uses, the thesis will analyze of images in Frost’s poems. It is aimed at the interpretation of the seasonal images in the Frost’s poems. The analysis of seasonal images is based on the theme building function. Speaking of poetic images, the critics just do their research on the definition of images and the difference between images and the situation they symbolize. An image is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time (Pound 59). Image is defined as the smallest unit in poetry, but represents a bunch of thoughts blending together, which proves to the full that the image is extremely flexible and can be used in plenty of conditions. Based on the theory of building function of images, the building function can be realized by the juxtaposition of images, the combination of images and the creativity of images. As Gene Blocker said, if you put a lemon beside an orange, they will not be the lemon and orange, but combined to the image of fruit (54). It implies the construction characteristics of the artistic symbols in the poetry. As a kind of symbols, images and the contents or further meanings they represent are interdependent in the poetry. Through different ways of combination or expression, the meanings or emotions expressed will be totally different (Li 32).
Through his poor life experiences, the main reasons or roots for the pathetic theme of his poems we can find are his broken family and tragic fate. His six children all died of mental disorder or physical disease. He suffered to the full extent from continuous misfortune. After going through all those tribulations, Frost inevitably wrote poems tinted with sorrow and sadness. Hence the essence of his poems can be depicted as desperation, loneliness and melancholy. The terrible fear and anxiety towards the life are fully implied by his works. His unique use of images not only describes the idyllic scenery but the deeper melancholy he suffered, especially the use of seasonal images. This thesis focuses on the images in different seasons and discusses about the sorrowful emotions expressed through the images in four seasons. Moreover, it also discusses Frost’s creative use of seasonal images through different figure of speech. In short, this thesis focuses on that how Frost uses seasonal images to convey his gloomy themes based on the theory of the theme building function 罗伯特•弗罗斯特诗歌对季节意象的创新使用(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_27413.html