Max’s Musings: Robert Frost

How do you process your own fears?

When it comes to American poets, there is a high probability that Robert Frost’s name will be mentioned. His poetry is truly influential for its realism encased in rich symbolism.

I remember first being introduced to Frost’s work in middle school and revisiting in high school. In reading his famous “The Road Not Taken” and “Fire and Ice” at a young age, I learned so much about my life and where I foresaw it going.

With everything going on with politics these days and as it continues to unfold, I found Frost’s poem “House Fear” to be quite fitting for many, myself included. With fear in the title, the poem investigates the topic while offering hope in overcoming it.

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House Fear

Always—I tell you this they learned—

Always at night when they returned

To the lonely house from far away

To lamps unlighted and fire gone gray,

They learned to rattle the lock and key

To give whatever might chance to be

Warning and time to be off in flight:

And preferring the out- to the in-door night,

They learned to leave the house-door wide

Until they had lit the lamp inside.

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Frost’s haunting narration prominently leads the poem. As a fan of ghost and horror stories, I appreciate his use of suspense and thrills that propel the poem forward to set the scene for what is to come.

At the base, it appears to be a poem about individuals taking precautions to survive the fears and the threats that may come through the night. To me, the words trail much deeper.

I have come to realize that, regardless of the frequency or intensity, fear is a constant human emotion. Fear exists inside one’s “lonely house” and long past the property. Frost’s “lonely house” within the poem, to me, represents one’s mind. The mind can be a place of safety or where people harbor and hold onto their darkest fears whether they want to or not.

The poem validates how a person has an array of both internal and external struggles. Learning to identify them is only half the battle. Finding the strength to overcome them is the massive extent of the war. It is easy for people to leave their fears unattended with “lamps unlighted” and while “fires gone gray”. Conquering those fears opens us up to a realm of possibilities.

The Road Not Taken and Other Poems by Robert Frost (paperback)

The Evergreen Echo

The personification of the “lonely house” resembles agoraphobia, which is the fear of public settings and leaving one’s house. After moving from the suburbs of San Antonio to the heart of Seattle, I found myself anticipating city life yet always fearing it. I didn’t want to take public transportation or leave the apartment by myself. Because of that, I was left to sit with my internal fears while barricading myself from any external ones. Through therapy, the aid of my fiancé, and self-reflection, I found the strength to insert myself into the city on my own.

Sometimes fears come and go. There is a difference between suppressing fear and overcoming fear permanently. After living without these fears, when “they returned”, the individuals are forced to relive them all over again.

By the end of the poem, there is hope for the “lonely house” and the individuals occupying it as they “leave the house-door wide”, welcoming the chaos, the fear, and the madness to overcome and move on from it after “they had lit the lamp inside” and find the light in the darkest of times.

“House Fear” offers a substantial lesson for those struggling with fear of any kind. The process is never easy but is always well worth enduring the trying times. Fear is different for everyone. What petrifies one can be salvation for others. Whether my existence strikes fear in the hearts of others, I alone am not responsible for conquering someone else’s fears. Conversely, I owe myself to work on vanquishing my own.  

What fears are you grateful for? What fears have you yet to conquer?