Robert Frost's Birches

Reality vs. Fantasy "Birches" by Robert Frost is a nostalgic poem filled with fond memories and fantasies, yet at the same time the speaker reveals his longing to escape. Frost sets up a conversation with himself using dialogue between his sensible, knowing self and his fantasizing, nostalgic self. At first the poem seems to be just an account for all of the birches leaning with none standing straight. Frost would like to think that a …

…Birches" deals with the idea of reality/elderly versus fantasy/youth. The speaker realizes in his stressful state that fantasy offers an escape from reality, but Frost, as a poet, used this controversy in a different way. He illustrates that writing is much the same as a world of fantasy; free and stressless. Nevertheless, this poem illustrates that for most people the world of fantasy is a much more favorable environment than that of reality.