I’ve been enjoying the poetry of Robert Frost lately, and recently ordered an Emily Dickinson collection. Why do we think poetry is just for children? These brilliant thinkers have messages that could resonate with us all.
There’s More to Frost
Frost of course is best known for his pastoral imagery, and his shorter works, like “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening, ” “The Road Not Taken,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “Fire and Ice.”
But there is so much more to Robert Frost. This man burned with quiet intensity.
Robert Frost wrote many poems in unrhymed blank verse, essentially iambic pentameter, using an informal style that reads like familiar natural speech. It’s subtle and kind of ingenius.
I recently enjoyed two Biblical-themed short plays that Frost wrote in iambic pentameter: just like Shakespeare, but without the Elizabethan speech or elaborate formal elocution.
It didn’t hurt that they reminded me of one of my own current WIPs ?
The plays are clearly meant to be read, because the stage directions are also metrical, and form part of the pentameter lines. I’m not aware that they have ever been performed, although they could work well in a one-act play competition.
A Masque of Reason
“A Masque of Reason” (1945) is a conversation between Job, his wife Thyatira, God, and Satan. They talk about karmic justice (or the lack thereof) using witch trials and Milton’s blindness as examples.
A Masque of Mercy
He followed that up with “A Masque of Mercy” (1947) which
SPOILER ALERT
is a conversation between Cain, Jezebel, Jonah, and St. Paul.
They’re not all initially identified as such.
In this poem-play, Cain is called “Keeper,” apparently because he’s a bookstore shopkeeper, until Jonah calls him “My Brother’s Keeper” and thus reveals the secret.
Jezebel is called “Jesse Bel”
Jonah is variously called a “Fugitive” and “Jonas Dove.”
St. Paul is just “Paul”
The characters explore a variety of topics in their dialog: including faith, Marxist revolutionaries, mercy, justice, the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, the idealism of the Sermon on the Mount, and more…
In conclusion, if it’s been a while since you last read Robert Frost, you may find it worth your while to check him out. He is still relevant and insightful.
[ This post was originally posted as a thread to my Twitter account on 10-16-20 ]
