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Birches



When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees

I like to think of some boy's been swinging on them

But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay

As ice storms do. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice and a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells

Shattering and avalanching on the snow crust-

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

They are dragged to the withered brackin by the load,

And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed

So low for long, they never right themselves:

You may see their trunks arching in the woods

Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground

Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair

Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.



In the first section, Frost explains the birches appearances scientifically. He implys that natural phenomenons make the branches of the birch trees sway. He explains that ice storms, which are a characteristic of New England weather, can cause the branches to become heavy and bend. Birches have a black background with crackled snow white bark on top of the black bark. It has an unusual appearance because both the black and the white are visable at once. Frost offers many suggestions for their appearance. It maybe due to the ice breaking that is burdened on the bark. The breeze causes the ice to move and crack certain parts of the bark, creating a crackling effect. "As the [ice] stir cracks and crazes their enamel." He also compares...