Departmental (Robert Frost)

This poem is great in comparison to other Frost poems. So, I should have, perhaps, talked about other, more famous Frost poems first, but I just adore this poem. It's such a story and then it ends in the delightful quip "It couldn't be called ungentle/But how thoroughly departmental."

This poem is gleeful. I bet Frost wrote it quickly when he was in a happy, light mood. This is an example of what I consider to be appropriate use of rhyme. It's not a skill of mine and it's so painfully awful when it's done poorly, which is pretty common. But here, the rhymes are AABBCC. They are so close together, which is so appropriate for humor.

This poem almost mislead me. I saw "Robert Frost" and thought it would be serious and snow-filled. But then, right away, the rhyme and the meter become apparent and set the stage for the delight that quickly comes. Without meaning it in a trite way, this poem is so cute!

Favorite line: "Go bring him home to his people./Lay him in state on a sepal./Wrap him for shroud in a petal./Embalm him with ichor of nettle./This is the word of your Queen."