In Robert Frost's poem, "Desert Places," the symbolism
used seems to be that of nature, specifically snow, to represent a
separateness or loneliness as the world becomes covered, blanketing not only what is
seen, but what is heard as well, giving one the sense of being isolated or cut off from
the world.
As the snow falls quickly, so does the night,
adding to a sense of isolation. The snow is all-encompassing, much as loneliness is: the
poem reflects that it covers the last vestiges of growth in the fields, and even the
lairs where animals sleep or hibernate. Frost indicates that it will get worse before it
gets better:
And lonely as it is that
loneliness
Will be more lonely ere it will be
less--
The snow represents
not only loneliness, but later in the poem it seems to also symbolize the inability of
one to communicate because of that loneliness.
With no expression, nothing to
express.
However, whereas
Frost comments on the snow and how it represents loneliness, he (sadly) holds the
"trump" (winning) card. He explains that no matter what kind of loneliness snow may
present, he can beat even that. He is not frightened by the
aloneness he feels surrounded by snow, or the emptiness of the sky and stars, where no
human companionship can be found.
Nature cannot scare
him with its quiet snow or quiet night: Frost admits that he is
already frightened by the "desert places" that live within him
every day; by comparison to those places, the world of snow is no
match for his reality.
I have it in me so much nearer
home
To scare myself with my own desert
places.
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