Fire and Ice; The Art and Thought of Robert Frost

THIS is a straightforward, clearly written account of Frost’s poetry and ideas. Mr. Thompson begins by setting Frost’s theory of poetry against the background of other contemporary theories; he describes the function of metaphor in Frost’s poetry; he discusses Frost’s use of meter and rhyme, and after analyzing the different types of poetry which Frost has written, he ends with an account of Frost’s philosophy. The book is well planned and it makes us turn back to Frost’s poetry with a fresh appreciation.

Some parts of it, however, are less valuable than others. The opening account of the state of contemporary criticism is too simplified to satisfy a widely read mind, and a good deal of the discussion of Frost’s metrical technique is irrelevant to a real understanding of the poetry. Mr. Thompson doesn’t, at times, distinguish clearly enough between mere description of a poem and an analysis of it. But within its limits the book is an able and successful performance. T. S.