Birches by Robert Frost

The poem Birches by Robert Frost was absolutely fabulous in my opinion. I'm usually not a big poetry fan by any means, but for whatever reason I really appreciated this poem. It might be in part that I used to love to swing on the trees as Frost brought up in his poem. There is just a pure and unspoiled childish joy in leaping up and grabbing a tree branch. I'm not even sure what about it is so much fun. It kind of sounds ridiculous, if you haven't experienced it. However, once you've done it you just know the feeling and it is hard to explain. I really liked that I was able to relate to this poem's imagery, it made it more interesting to read.

I think that most people can relate to the part of the poem, where the speaker wanted to just escape from life to get reinvigorated. He didn't want to die, but just to somehow float away for a while and then come back more able to cope with life. It was as if he knew that life was worth living, but was so stressed out that he just needed an escape from reality. Since we know that Frost suffered from depression, that understanding of the poem seems to make contextual sense. Sometimes the world can get a little overwhelming and I can sometimes find myself wishing for a mini-escape to just take a break. I don't want to die by any stretch of the imagination. It is just that sometimes I feel like if I could just get a break from reality, I'd be more sane. I believe that life is totally worth living and "the right place for love", despite the hard and painful parts. Perhaps, even because of the hard parts? I'm not really sure.