Amanda Shaw

English 1006T

Truth in Society

“The Silken Tent”

by Robert Frost (1874-1963)

This poem was written by Robert Frost and was published in 1942. Frost was America’s best-loved poet for forty years, so much so that he read one of his poems at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. According to this anthology, Frost is easily misunderstood because he “is fond of indirection and suggestion as poetic strategies.”

This poem is written iambic pentameter and has a very obvious rhythm. Its rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD etc… This poem uses a tent, that is woven together by many silken strands to keep it together, as an illustration of (what I believe to be) the universe and how it works. Frost writes, “By countless silken ties of love and thought… To everything on earth the compass round… And only by one’s slightly taut…. In the capriciousness of summer air… Is the slightest bondage made aware.” These sentences remind the reader of how fragile the universe’s working are and of how dependent they are on the people that partake.