Robert Frost's "Departmental" is a poem that explores the theme of bureaucracy and the ways in which it can stifle individual creativity and freedom. The poem is written in the form of a mock-epic, with the speaker addressing a group of ants as they go about their work in a seemingly mundane and repetitive way.
At first, the speaker admires the ants for their diligence and efficiency, marveling at the way they seem to operate as a single unit. However, as the poem progresses, it becomes clear that the speaker is actually mocking the ants for their inability to think for themselves and their lack of individualism.
In the second stanza, the speaker compares the ants to a "machine" and notes that they seem to be "mechanized" in their work. This comparison highlights the idea that the ants are simply following a predetermined set of rules and are not able to think or act on their own.
In the third stanza, the speaker introduces the concept of "departmental" bureaucracy, noting that the ants are divided into different "departments" based on their specific tasks. This division of labor allows for efficiency, but also serves to limit the ants' ability to think creatively or to explore new ideas.
The final stanza of the poem reveals the speaker's true feelings about the ants and their work. He admits that he does not envy the ants for their lack of individuality and their rigid adherence to the rules of their "department." Instead, he envies the freedom and creativity of the grasshopper, who is able to roam freely and think for himself.
In conclusion, "Departmental" is a biting critique of bureaucracy and the ways in which it can stifle individualism and creativity. Through the use of the mock-epic form and the comparison of ants to a machine, Frost highlights the dangers of allowing rules and regulations to dictate our actions and thoughts.
Analysis of Robert Frost's Departmental
The ant seems a tad bit jealous that the moth lacks the amount of responsibility that ants are burdened with. The ant did not bother about and face the moth as it was a member of the "enquiry squad'', whose work is to find out the ways of God and the nature of time and space, and thereby the ant would have to explain his case to the moth. The image of Robert Frost, both as poet and person, has been considerably tarnished since his death in 1963. The dawn represents a new day, a new start where she can again acknowledge her heritage. He apologizes to the tiny creature while telling it that he means no harm. The second date is today's date â the date you are citing the material. The poet has rendered this poem in the form of an ant-fable because ants are especially known for their high sense of organization.
Analysis of Robert Frost's Poem, Departmental
Laying the body on a flower, wrapping him in a petal, and embalming him with the blood of the gods. This is the word of your Queen. Thus Frost calls attention to a basic difference between ants at least as humans perceive them and humans. The whole affair is so "thoroughly departmental", laments the poet. But whatever ant comes on the aerial link, he gives him information about the dead ant, and in this way the report is passed on to the higher officials. Just as the manure does, the longer the man sits there and waits for something, the more prone he is to dry up and waste his life.
Departmental: by Robert Frost
Perhaps the greatest weakness of this book is its style. The road from one to the other, from life to death, is a long and at times, both joyous and painful one. Throughout the essay, death is described from many different angles. Finally, he tells the mouse that it is not alone in failing to build wisely for the future; men fail at that too. Without the saw, the boy would spend hours cutting through the wood.
Departmental by Robert Frost
Throughout the poem, Frost uses poetic devices such as personification, allusion, rhyme, and alliteration. Lay him in state on a sepal. One should take it easy, read it lightly, and enjoy it fullyâ that's all. Then word goes 'Death's come to Our Will the Whose The dead of the commissary Go Lay him in Wrap him for Embalm him with This is the word of your Queen. An ant on the tablecloth Ran into a dormant moth Of many times his size. Ants belong to a peculiar race; it is such a race as move with fast motion by the body of the dead ant without stopping even for a moment as though least concerned about such things.
Departmental
One is not sure whether, at the end of the poem, the poet is simply stating a fact or he is ridiculing the ants. Immediately a grave-looking undertaker appears on the scene and takes the formal position with feelers calmly spread and turns over the dead by the middle of his body and throws him high in the air to carry him away. The fact that death is common does not, for humans, negate its profundity. These are the words of Robert Frost who was born on March 26, 1874. Everything is the same, human and animal, life and death.
