Robert Frost’s Home Burial is a narrative poem that speaks of life’s tragedies. Robert Frost’s writing style is very straight-forward and direct. In Home Burial the setting appears to be the background of a tragedy that centers around the death of a child. It is important for the reader to recognize that Home Burial was pubished in 1914. That gives the reader a better insight to understand the husband’s reaction to the death of the child.
During this time period Society dictated that men should not show their true feelings. Therefore, men tended to have dealt with conflicts by working hard and being domineering. Home Burial demonstrates how one tragedy can cause another to occur. There are three different tragedies that transpire throughout this poem. The first tragedy is the burial of the child. The second tragedy is the burial of the marriage. Finally, the most symbolic and ironic tragedy is the burial of the home.
Because of unfortunate circumstances the three things closely associated with this home becomes buried. All of these tragedies occurred as a result of the child’s burial. This couple’s marriage could not survive such an emotional loss. Therefore the marriage becomes buried. When the marriage became buried the home became its own burial spot for this family’s life. Home Burial tells a tale of tragedy in one family’s life. Robert Frost portrayed a very realistic chain reaction to tragedy in Home Burial