18 pages • 36 minutes read
October
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Themes
Nature
Since it can be classified as a pastoral poem, a major underlying theme in Frost’s “October” is nature. The poem is firmly and almost exclusively grounded in the natural world, with the speaker of the poem even appealing to nature itself as represented by the addressee of the poem, the “October morning” (Lines 1, 7). Nature is the surface-level yet primary subject of the poem–it is both the addressee and the source material of all images–yet is also more generally understood as a metaphor to represent one’s own life as well as time.
Frost employs liberal use of nature metaphors throughout “October,” providing a distinct image of the countryside in autumn. His natural imagery is evocative of the autumnal season and reveals Frost’s own locality. His strong ties to New England provide additional context for the poem, as the image is of a specific autumn—leaves turned vibrant shades of orange, yellow, and red spread across rolling hills.
Death
In “October,” Frost considers the concept of death from the perspective of the natural world. He uses imagery such as dried leaves falling from trees, birds migrating in formation, and grapes with frost on their leaves to highlight the natural life cycles of flora and fauna and, in turn, implies a connection with the mortality of humans. The speaker of Frost’s poem insists on delaying this natural death, pleading to the “October morning” (Lines 1, 7) to spare the grapes, “for the grapes’ sake” (Lines 18, 21), so that the elements of the landscape, the leaves and fruit, might remain intact and filled with life in the pristine image of landscape as conveyed by the speaker.
As Frost’s own life was marked by death and sadness, this poem takes on a bittersweet note. At the age of 11, Frost lost his father; further, during his lifetime, he experienced the loss of his wife, Elinor, and four of his six children. Death in Frost’s poem “October” is rendered through nature’s lens and still, it is the speaker of this poem begging the things around him to live a while longer.
Time
Relative to nature and death, Frost explores the concept of time by using nature’s processes—the changing seasons—as a metric for time passing. Much as a dwindling bottle of whisky might be used to represent the passage of time at a social gathering, Frost instead uses grounding natural imagery to explore this vast and abstract concept within his poem. Frost even breaks time into specific units, using leaves to represent actual increments of time: “Release one leaf at break of day; / At noon release another” (Lines 12-13).
Across cultures, autumn and winter are the seasons most often associated with death. In “October,” Frost asks for the time between autumn and winter to be extended to ward off death, which is inevitable both in life and within the world of this poem. For Frost, the pastoral form allows him to make a personal and highly philosophical conceit on the issue of time and mortality while abstracting any elements that could be read as too intimate to his own life as a poet, son, husband, and father.
New England
Though he was born in California and began his formal literary career in England, Frost is widely considered a New England poet as he lived most of his lifetime in the region and much of his writing reflects the natural New England world. During his life and even after his death he has received a certain level of fame in New England: There are libraries, schools, and even a mountain named after him in this region. While New England is not outright mentioned in “October,” it is heavily implied that in this poem and many of Frost's others, he is writing about the region he called home for so many years.
Frost’s “October” assumes that there are four seasons in the landscape he describes, since the leaves are soon to fall from the trees and frost has arrived, meaning snow and winter are sure to follow. While Frost might not have intended for his own context to shine so brightly through this poem, by asking his reader to accept October as a drastic changing of the seasons, Frost reveals himself, his background, and ultimately his affinity for the New England landscape.
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By Robert Frost
