Psychoanalytic Theory

"The best way out is always through."

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Psychoanalytical Theory is where those criticizing a written work view it as if it were a dream to be interpreted. I think this poem is a perfect piece for this theory.

“Reluctance” by Robert Frost, is a poem about traveling and experiencing life in my mind. I think that he is trying to describe his life through this poem as one where he traveled the world and gained knowledge and now that he is old that road is coming to an end. His Tone throughout this poem is very somber because he is describing the end of the road in his life. He describes climbing hills which could be interpreted as the years in his life and then looking at the world which could be interpreted as him learning new things. Then he goes on to describe himself descending much like what happens in life when you pass your prime, like the old saying goes “It’s all downhill from here”. He is also keeping with his common theme of all things come to an end and death is a natural course of life. This is shown at the end of the poem, where he writes “And bow and accept the end of a love or a season”. Love doesn’t last forever and nor do seasons. All good things come to an end eventually and I think that is his point in this poem.