Floating Away or Staying Put: Finding Meaning in the Poetry of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost

The purpose of this study was to examine and articulate in philosophical terms the inherent differences in the poetics of William Wordsworth and Robert Frost. This work differs from many other critical works that have considered the two poets’ similarities and differences in that it considers these concepts from a philosophical standpoint. The study looks at the specific philosophical backgrounds of the two poets and utilizes vocabulary and concepts from these to describe the poets’ different poetical movements in describing similar subjects.

John Locke’s concepts of modes and substance ideas are used to describe the other things that appear in the lines of Wordsworth and Frost. The study also uses the concept of David Hartley’s associationism and the concept of transcendence to articulate the different poetic movements the two poets make. William James’s pragmatism is also used to draw a connection from Lockean logic into Frost’s own philosophy.

These concepts help answer the question of what do these poets find important. The concepts also help describe how and why Wordsworth finds meaning beyond earth while Frost finds meaning on it.