ttering and crashing of waves can be heard. Each event in this play is a buildup to the climax in the last line. The scene is of late-afternoon waves beating against a cliff under a cloudy sky. As the speaker gazes out from the shore he sees the stormy clouds producing bigger and bigger waves, as the waves are crashing against the shore. The poem says if the shore wasn’t backed by the cliff then the water would be running over it and the cliff has the continent to back it (Cook 143). The speaker seems to be relaxing on the cliff enjoying the sounds of the wave. But as the scene gets stormier and angrier so does the man. Frost is comparing the psychological problems of the man with the nature that is going on. One could say the clashing waves represent the man’s thoughts building up within him. The shoreline, cliff, and continent could represent the man’s emotional problems. The landforms are blocking the waves like their blocking the speakers mind (Cook 144). Then the approaching clouds and dark night shift the mood of the poem and the speaker goes from relaxing to anger. This turning point in the poem is represented by the rage of the clouds. The cliff and continent can symbolize obstacles in life, and too many obstacles in someone’s life can lead to anger and confusion (Cook 145). The voice of the poem is most important in building and changing the story in preparation for the end of the poem. Like when the “hanging clouds” approach so does the voice of the poem from peaceful to rage. The nature’s elements personify the speaker’s emotions and shift from someone’s breaking point to angriest point (Cook 146). This poem is a great example of Frost’s use of nature in his poetry.In Frost’s “West-Running Brook” he applied the contrary’s of nature to the characters in his poetry in order in evoke a response in the reader and supply a universal...
