Time and timelessness in Robert Frost's lyrics

Sharon Cameron argues persuasively that lyrics isolate moments, freeing them from the sequential, causal flow of ordinary time. Robert Frost's lyrics, however, demonstrate that often the speakers who describe such timeless moments are themselves anchored in particular moments and cannot escape linear time; the majority of Frost's lyrics posit someone speaking in a moment temporally related to the lyric moment. In this study I trace temporal conflicts that arise between timeless, narrated moments in Frost's lyrics and the temporally anchored moments from which speakers narrate the poems. Such conflicts highlight contradictions at the heart of the lyric form--both in Frost's work and in all lyrics.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Postema, James Allen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Watts, Emily S.

• Literature, American

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1989 Postema, James Allen

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9010991
(UMI)AAI9010991

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/21888