The Poem A Nosty Fright

The poem A Nasty Fright exemplifies knowledge of both sound and meaning. Any reader would definitely conclude at first that it has no meaning because it is a jumble of words with and without meaning. First and foremost, a dictionary or thesaurus would be worthless. The first four lines are an example of twisted words that, with the help of one's understanding of the English language, will include the sense of simply tangled words such as "oison pivy" instead of "poison ivy." Another representation is the tangled “roldengod” instead of “golden rod” in the same series of lines. Finally, in the same set of lines, “wumbleteed” instead of “tumbleweed.”

But the question here is perhaps the purpose of rearranging the words into something a kindergarten will love. A simple reading will make the readers think that it has the effect of trying to be hilarious. However, if one will match the words, there is rhythm and meaning in many of the lines. An example is the word “theed on the second line” which sounds great with the word “wumbleteed” form the fourth line. This is the same as in the second line of the fourth stanza where the word “twoots” rhyme with the word “soots.” It cannot be said that the manner of creation had nothing but pure experimentation. There is a pattern that can be seen and is very common to the whole masterpiece. The rhyming words often fall on the second line and the fourth line of every stanza.

The art in this kind of poem relies purely on the sounds created which contribute to the wholeness of the poem. Another observation which can be seen is that in the lines where rhythm is obvious, the rhyming words often have double letters like “too” and “skool” on the sixth stanza. “theed” and “weed” are also rhyming using double letters. This masterpiece not only plays with the sound but also with a wonderful pattern which is creatively done in a systematic manner.

Relating this to Frost’s masterpieces, perhaps it can be said that this too is full of imagery and sound. Other would call this as “picturesque.” For some, it is easy to say that this is nature-filled. The title for example already tells us about a frosty night, another way to play with words while at the same time mentioning the summary of the whole poem. It tells us about a picture of a cold night where one can hear sounds from different angles. An example of this is “Back blats flew betreen the twees,” or in a rather correct way of saying “black bats flew between the trees.” We are being brought in the imagery of a cold night with the sounds of bats, and at the same time, it still reminds us to go back to reading it right by giving a typical “correct word” such as “flew,” which is not part of the tangled system.

This wonderful play of words and sounds is something new, not only for the past but for the present. It is a mixture of Frost’s nature-imagery and at the same time, a pattern-filled poem. The distorted words did not create chaos as to the meaning it tries to imbibe. This is the strength of the poem. Lastly, the conversation happening in the poem between the subject animals is also a decorative style which makes it more interesting. The grasshopper and the chipmunk for example, does a conversation, a story within a story. This kind of technique in writing a poem can still be said as a novelty even though written in the years past.

SOURCES

http://bookpuddle.blogspot.com/2005/08/swensons-nosty-fright.html

Deadline is approaching?

Wait no more. Let us write you an essay from scratch

Receive Paper In 3 Hours
Calculate the Price
275 words
First order 15%
Total Price:
$38.07 $38.07
Calculating ellipsis
Hire an expert
This discount is valid only for orders of new customer and with the total more than 25$
This sample could have been used by your fellow student... Get your own unique essay on any topic and submit it by the deadline.

Find Out the Cost of Your Paper

Get Price