To begin with, Robert Frost uses the black cottage as a symbol of old, forgotten beliefs, especially political ones and the woodpile as a symbol of man’s forgotten crafts and achievements to explore the inevitability of decay and its purpose. The cottage owner was a very forward-looking woman with firm political views especially the belief that ‘men are created free and equal’ and the cottage represented everything she believed in – adorned with old-fashioned mementos ‘a buttoned hair-cloth lounge’ ‘a crayon portrait on the wall done sadly from an old daguerreotype’ that symbolize her now abandoned, ageing set of values. The minister conveys how strong, rock-hard (‘the force that would prevail’) and inspirational she was in her beliefs. This creates a very stoic image of the cottage in the reader’s mind and to reinforce this, the minister tells the narrator that the woman’s sons ‘won’t have the place disturbed’ – as if the cottage was being kept alive and intact. However, we see nature is actually damaging and causing the cottage to decay, with rain painting the cottage ‘a velvet black’ (a colour reminiscent of death and mourning, as if nature is dressing the cottage up for its own funeral), a ‘weathered windowsill’ and ‘warping boards [that] pull out their own nails’ (the personification even the cottage itself seems to know its end is near and aids nature in its decomposition). The woodpile, despite being untouched by humans for years, is also ‘gray’, ‘warping’ and ‘sunken’ and nature is also affecting it, ‘clematis [winding] strings round and round like a bundle’ (this simile suggests the clematis is preparing the woodpile for burial, mummifying it almost). The extensive personification of nature throughout the two poems portrays Nature as a sort of existence that controls the cycle of life and death: it knows the beliefs symbolized by the cottage ‘seldom have a visitor’ – the old woman’s beliefs are not the same ideals the modern world now follow – and that the woodpile is ‘older sure than last year’s cutting’ and unused. However, in both poems, Frost is saying that decay is actually useful and the woodpile and the cottage have both served their purposes – the woodpile was a man’s craft that helped the narrator to reflect on the importance of the cycle of life and decay and the cottage was part of a movement that contributed to men’s rights. The ‘slow smokeless burning of decay’ represents the gradual disappearance of man’s craft and achievements yet it is a liberating, refreshing decay with no thick or suffocating smoke. Similarly the image of ‘sunset blaz[ing] on the windows’ of the cottage reminds the reader of burning, fire – a cremation. The sun, as part of Nature, is cremating the cottage, symbolizing the end of the old woman and her beliefs – they have served their purposes and it is time for a new cottage, a new woman and new beliefs (just as it is time for someone else to make a woodpile): change is inevitable!
Through the minister’s first person narration (which helps the reader understand more clearly what he feels) as he tells the narrator about his own opinion on beliefs and the blank verse used throughout the poem reflecting the minister’s ambivalent attitude of his towards change and values, Frost explores the fear of change, represented by the Minister’s wish to ‘be monarch of a desert land’ where he ‘could devote and dedicate forever to the truths we keep coming back and back to’. He would like to lead a ‘desert’ undisturbed life, well ‘walled’ in ‘by mountain ranges half in summer snow’ (the juxtaposition ‘summer snow’ represents the balance of two extremities, the balance of different ideals and the mountain ranges are symbolic of how this balance can contribute to strong ideals) and and protected from anyone to ‘force change on’ his ideals (the verb ‘force’ having connotations of hostility and aggression – this is what he views change as). He sees this kind of lifestyle as picturesque, abundant and ideal, like a beautiful land with ‘tamarisk’ and refreshing ‘oases’ where one can live blissfully in relaxed ‘idleness’ and not have to worry about any change.
Common points between 'The Black Cottage' and 'The Woodpile':
- both woodpile and cottage served their purpose
- fear of change observed in Minister and rigid making of woodpile
- nature always alive, surpassing human efforts
- decay leaves place to new growth, brings new life and development