By: Robert Frost

Faith Guzman & Alvaro Villarreal

An Encounter

First appeared in the November 1916 issue of the Atlantic Monthly. An Encounter was a part of the Mountain Interval collection.

Republished in 1920 by Henry Holt and Company located in New York.

Mountain Interval was initially published in 1916. After Frost made some revisions, it was republished in 1920.

Mountain Interval has an interesting quote, “TO YOU who least need reminding, that before this interval of the South Branch under black mountains, there was another interval, the Upper at Plymouth, where we walked in spring beyond the covered bridge ; but that the first interval of all was the old farm, our brook interval, so called by the man we had it from in sale.”

First World War is taking place over seas.

Second Industrial Revolution led to new technologies such as steel, petroleum, automobile, telephone, and commercial electricity.

An Encounter At a Glance

Once on the kind of day called “weather breeder,”

When the heat slowly hazes and the sun

By its own power seems to be undone,

I was half boring through, half climbing through

A swamp of cedar. Choked with oil of cedar 5

And scurf of plants, and weary and over-heated,

And sorry I ever left the road I knew,

I paused and rested on a sort of hook

That had me by the coat as good as seated,

And since there was no other way to look, 10

Looked up toward heaven, and there against the blue,

Stood over me a resurrected tree,

A tree that had been down and raised again—

A barkless spectre. He had halted too,

As if for fear of treading upon me. 15

I saw the strange position of his hands—

Up at his shoulders, dragging yellow strands

Of wire with something in it from men to men.

“You here?” I said. “Where aren’t you nowadays

And what’s the news you carry—if you know? 20

And tell me where you’re off for—Montreal?

Me? I’m not off for anywhere at all.

Sometimes I wander out of beaten ways

Half looking for the orchid Calypso.”

Title

BeforeAt first sight, we predicted this poem to be a meeting between two people, possibly a romantic couple. Therefore, it would be a love poem where the subject is the search for love.

AfterAn encounter requires two people meeting this why the “barkless spectre”/telephone pole is personified to suggest they are the two entities they are meeting.

Takes place before a storm since the conditions allow for humidity and precipitation. The speaker stops following a paved road and finds himself in a dense forest. He makes his way through the forest by making his own path and physically climbing trees. This leads him to a swamp where he makes a pause and looks up to heaven. He finds a telephone pole that connects people through electricity. They are beginning to be found everywhere. The speaker is usually making his own paths looking for a certain flower but technology has begun to take over the forest.

Paraphrase

Imagery: “Once on the kind of day called “weather breeder”, When the heat slowly hazes and the sun By its own power seems to be undone.”

This develops the setting of the poem by causing the audience to feel the environmental pressures that are causing the speaker’s physical discomfort.

Figurative Language: “Choked with oil of cedar and scurf of plants”

This suggests that the Speaker is being overwhelmed by unknown factors and puts the blame on the forest.

Personification: Lines 13-17 “He had halted too,….from men to men”

The barkless spectre is personified to have human qualities so that the Speaker is able to effectively communicate in a sarcastic manner.

Paradox: “Me? I’m not off for anywhere at all. Sometimes I wander out of beaten ways”

This gives the impression that the Speaker has no sense of direction. But the Speaker establishes his pattern of intended lack of direction.

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Connotation

Connotation (Continued)Structure: of the sentences adds to the tone of the poem. For example, the first sentence of the poem begins at line 1 and ends at line 5. Second sentence begins at line 5 and ends at line 13. It indicates that the Speaker is not coherent in his thoughts and rambling as he goes through the forest and finds the “barkless spectre”Dialogue: Lines 19-21 “ “You here?” I said……..Montreal?”

Speaker is able to converse with the “barkless spectre”. Therefore, he respects it and are equal in the Speaker’s mind.

Overall theme of the poem is technology’s invasion of nature.

The speaker’s escape is invaded by the telephone pole.

This taints the forest’s beauty in the speaker’s eyes.

One can infer that Frost fears the loss of appreciation in nature’s beauty.

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Theme

Tone

Before shiftWhen the Speaker realizes that commercialized technology is consuming the forest, he is frustrated as well as apprehensive of the increasing focus on advancing technology in society.

ShiftsLines 1-6: Speaker is aggravated by the environmental pressure such as heat and humidity.Lines 19-21: Speaker becomes agitated and sarcastic towards the presence of the telephone pole.

It says that Frost is criticizing technology’s encroachment on nature.

Frost forced his way into nature to find something natural but instead found the unnatural.

Orchid Calypso has a double meaning: a type of flower that may be the target of the speaker’s search or the infamous nymph from greek mythology.

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Criticism 1

The naturalistic detail is symbolic in the beginning of the poem. It is creating an internal conflict in the speaker’s mind.

There is a possible connection to God. The barkless spectre could connect with a crucifixion.

There is question being asked that the speaker believes God can answer.

Industrialization leading to the commercialization of new technologies such as electricity affect nature.

Mythology would cause the mind to enslave itself.

Nature beauty is being overlooked because of technology.

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Criticism 2

Speaker has a pattern of looking for new roads. This time he has to force his way into the forest. It is physically demanding and causes him to take a rest. This rest allows him to realize there is an intruder where he is usually alone. Speaker is not okay with the presence of a “barkless spectre” where he usually escapes. The telephone pole connects him back to society and ruins the idea of an escape. He is in a sense still on a beaten path.

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Our Interpretation