“IN A VALE”

Robert Frost

Presented by: Jelena Kukuruzovic & Jocelyn Tirado

BACKGROUND

“

In a Vale” appeared in Robert Frost’s first volume, “A Boys Will”

P

ublished in 1913.

T

he 3 poems(Waiting, In a Vale, A Dream Pang) are in the middle

of A Boys Will, they structure the whole volume of love and

poetic making. Between the “sound” of love and a poets love of

sound.

“A BOYS WILL”

A

Boys Will is a poetry collection by Robert Frost. It is

Frost’s first book of poems, published by David Nutt in

1913. Following the success of North of Boston in 1914,

Henry Holt and Company republished A Boys Will in

1915.• North of Boston is a 1914 poetry collection by

Robert Frost. It includes two of his most famous poems, "Mending Wall” and “After Apple-picking”.

DIFFICULT WORDS

V

ale- valley

F

en- land covered wholly or partially with water

F

ain- gladly; willingly

V

ainly- ineffectual or successful

R

eeds- type of plants

CONNOTATIONS

P

ersonification is found in lines 15-17 • “That the stars were faded away

Before the last went, heavy with dew,Back to the place from which she came-”

The speaker personifies by the stars by giving them female characteristics.

CONNOTATIONS

I

magery is found in lines 7 and 8 • “And for every kind there was a face,And a voice that has sounded in my room”

The speaker uses imagery to show that because he was lonely, all he heard was the nature by the fen even if it had no sound because he felt that they wanted to be heard.

THEME

T

he overall theme of “In a Vale” is a childhood

journey. Throughout the poem, it is focused on the

speaker, Robert Frost, explaining a time during his

childhood and reflecting on it.

“ANALYSIS”

“

In a Vale” is a dream based fully on the past but how he regrets

half of the things that he has done in his life. He finds peace

when he is over looking land where nature is involved such as

flowers and birds. He losses his mind when being surrounded by

nature in the sense that the speaker lets his imagination run.

Even though he dwells for the past he overcomes his fears and

realizes that he is peaceful in the setting that he is in and

continues to vent and let his imagination run.

CRITICISM

Frost dated the poem between 1896 and 1901, he

wrote in a letter to friend Sidney Cox in 1915 that

“A place I passed at night alone something like

twenty years ago made “In a Vale” then and there

in my head and I wrote it down with few changes

the next morning”• When writing, Frost often refers back to

this poem.