The Theme of Life and Death in the Birches, by Robert Frost The poem "Birches", by Robert Frost, illustrates the author's ability to take what what seems to be mundane life activity and transform it into something that has a deeper meaning. The poem, taken literally, revolves around a boy living in rural New England "whose only game was the one he was in," in this case, riding on birch branches. The poem is very literal in language but by analyzing each verse you can find different themes and interpretations. A deeper, figurative meaning for "Birches" is the theme of life and death. The poem begins with a description of the adventures of a young boy. The first half of "Birches" portrays the youthful pleasures of a lonely boy. Frost uses vivid description to create an image of birch branches bending under the weight of ice storms. "They are dragged towards the shriveled and do not seem to break; although once bent so long, they never straighten out." This statement has an underlying meaning that can be paralleled with a life theme: no matter what burdens one suffers throughout life, an individual does not break but rather adapts. Another theme occurs when the boy was swinging on the branches but then "the truth broke in." This can be interpreted as saying that people like to live in a dream world, but in the end, reality prevails. The second half of "Birches" begins with the boy riding the trees, "One by one he subdued his father's trees by riding them down and over again." Thus, Frost addresses another theme of living in that one must proceed carefully through life but not too carefully. This is clearly presented when he says: "He learned everything there was to learn about non-launchi...... middle of paper......, as in "Birches", people learn to adapt to what they are offered. Most of the time, the end of a chapter in a person's life doesn't happen the way they imagined it, but they wouldn't trade their memories for regrets 1900, his writing style is better than that of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow or William Cullen Bryant, both lived in 1800. This is due to his use of traditional language and style in his poems. Frost has a certain subtlety in his poems because of the completely literal writing language that "Birches" uses is what makes it such a famous literary work, because to find what he means in many of his poems, including "Birches", it is often necessary to over-analyze Overall , Frost conveys a sense of realist optimism using metaphor and symbolic language.