Birches

Frost uses blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter, throughout “Birches.” One of the most common metrical forms in English Language poetry, blank verse provides a natural rhythm that resembles conversation. For Frost, utilizing this structure allows him to adopt a colloquial tone within the context of a traditional poetic form, creating intimacy with his reader and underscoring the universality of his philosophical message. Frost suggests that the nostalgia his speaker feels for childhood joy, and his attempt to locate it again in the context of his adult life, is a universal desire, one that appeals to himself and to his reader. Periodically throughout the poem, he directly addresses the reader in the second person, further deepening this connection and intimating that the reader should likewise value and respect the natural world. Frost’s lines, following the five-beat constraint of pentameter, often result in enjambment; this contributes to the pacing and tension of the poem and supports the meditative nature of the poem’s content, as the speaker meanders and muses upon the birches.