The ‘A Time to Talk’ by Robert Lee Frost is a poem about friendship. In this poem the poet demonstrate how a friend should act when his friend comes to talk while he is busy doing work. More over the poet said even if you are busy you should stop everything and help your friend. ‘ On all the hills I haven’t hoed, And shout from where I am, What is it?’ suggest that even if he is so busy, he is trying to help his friend.
The title ‘A Time to Talk’ is alliteration, where the repetition of the ‘t’ sound creates a rhythm. The title indicates that there is a specific time to talk and specific time to do other things. Robert Frost uses colorful imagery, meaning and specific word choice to illustrate the importance of talking to a friend.
The poem is short, it is one stanza that consist ten lines. The poem follows an abcadbceed rhyme but there is no particular scheme, which helps make the poem musical and creates a beat. The poem consist ten lines and enjambment is absent. Based on punctuation stanzas tend to come after every five lines. This poem shows a lot of things about friendships and that friendship is all about helping each other and more importantly trusting each other. This poem shows that you should always help your friend no matter what work you have.
In addition to that, the poet shows that you should visit your friend whenever you have free time to maintain a strong relationship ‘I go up to the stone wall, For a friendly visit.’ The poet states that you should be with your friends when he mostly needs you, ‘And slows his horse to a meaning walk,’ indicate that when you need your friend he slows down for you so you should also be doing the same thing in return. Also an indirect massage is that working is tough and that from time to time workers should take a break. His past played a critical role in writing his poem since the poet suffers of losing family. The poet presented an immense amount of figurative language to deliver and express the main idea to the reader.
The poet used vivid description and metaphor such as ‘I don’t stand still and look around.’ Also he used personification that makes the reader visualizes the image ‘I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground’ and the word ‘hoe’ suggest that he has a feeling of anxiety. ‘And plod: I go up to the stone wall’ is a symbol for the hard attraction in life. The phrase ‘stone wall’ has a negative connotation because it is like two walls separating two friends. The poet also used alliteration to create a rhythm such as ‘time to talk’ repetition of ‘t’ sound and ‘five feet’ the repetition of ‘f’ sound.
The poet also used rhetorical question ‘What is it?’ which influence the reader and show that there is no time to talk. The poet presents a happy and surprised tone and attitude toward the visit of his friend. Using these devices the reader is able to build an image about the context. In conclusion, the poet Robert Frost expressed the main idea about friendship by exploring different devices to build up a great image about maintaining good and strong relationships. Also you should always support your friends and help them in all times. In addition to that never put work a choice to choose over your friends.
Finally, the poet’s early life helped in writing this poem because of his great fear of losing family. Therefore, he is trying to deliver a massage to the reader which is always have correct choices that will affect you in a positive way.
