Just like most of Frosts poetry, Birches is filled with a lot of vivid

imagery. In particular, birches has a central nature motif that is

prevalent throughout the poem, and the poems overall imagery
constantly streams back to nature and natural aspects, specifically
Birch trees.

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees (lines 1-2)

These lines introduce us to the focal symbol and image of the entire
poem. Through this use of imagery we are able to imagine in our heads
how a birch looks, and it also introduces us to the idea of them being
malleable from the very first line by describing them as bending from
left to right. Across the line of straighter, furthers exaggerates the
contrast between the birches between the other kinds of trees and why
it was this tree that was chosen to be spoken about in the poem and
not any of the other straighter.

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

Youd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen. (Lines 12-13)

This passage is the one that first introduces us to the allusion to

heaven, that is present throughout the poem.
After the ice storm, the reality (ice) has come down to the ground; the
dome into heaven has opened, and given room for your imaginative to
flourish. Just like the saying says, when one door closes, another
window opens. It portrays the load of ice and the trees breaking so
beautifully, you cannot imagine it to be something terrible, as if there
is a bright side to it.

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,

And they seem not to break; (lines 14-15)

There is a very strong use of imagery by describing the birch as being

dragged, withered and bracken by the load. This imagery shows how
much the birch has had to endure and yet they still dont break.

Its when Im weary of considerations,

And life is too much like a pathless wood
Where your face burns and tickles with the cobwebs
Broken across it, and one eye is weeping
From a twigs having lashed across it open. (Lines 43-47)
This immersive use of imagery helps illustrate how harsh reality can
become; you can almost feel the pain of the speaker. It reminds us of
those times when life seems to become too much to bear and is
figuratively beating you up and tearing you apart.

Id like to go by climbing a birch tree,

And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more (lines 54-56)

The contrast between the black branches and the snow white trunk,
highlights the branches reaching to the imagination, and the trunk
being stable and grounding us to the ground and our own lives in in
reality. In this part of the poem, the persona once again he speak of
going to heaven, alluding to death from a religious perspective, and
how he is searching for an escape as he also mentions branches, which
represent our figurative escape and climb toward our dreams and
eventual transcendence.

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.

Comparing the birches bent toward the ground to young girls with their
hair flung over their heads, this illustrates the care-free and
inconsequential nature of birch trees bending.

Its when Im weary of considerations,

And life is too much like a pathless wood

Comparing life when your older and you are tired of making decisions
because it has all become too much, to a pathless wood where you are
lost and have nowhere to go.

These two similes highlight the nostalgic tone of the poem by showing
how you feel in your youth by being care free juxtaposed to the idea of
growing older and becoming tired and lost.

Frost uses imagery and similes to set the stage for the metaphors that
contribute to the overall theme of the poem.
Metaphors

Frost comes to the conclusion that there is a natural tendency to want to live in a
constant state of the imagination and abandon reality when it becomes too much to
handle. He explores the ambiguity of the human condition as it relates to a constant
struggle we face in striking a balance between the imaginative and real worlds. It is
unclear where this balance lies and if we will ever strike a perfect balance, but Frost
suggests that this is not an excuse to give up and fall only into one of these worlds and
stay there. We must accept that we are going to have to manage this balance and
understand that it is okay and important to enter our imaginative state of mind because
otherwise we become too weighed down by reality and may have the desire for the
ultimate escape of death.

As a group we agree with the ideas communicated and explored by Frost. After reading
this poem we have developed a new idea of what the imagination is- it is not just a
fantasy world- it is our ability to reflect and dream of something more than reality. It is
also accessing our emotions and feelings to find a deeper meaning in life. With this in
mind, the imagination is an essential element of our lives but nevertheless, we
understand that we must stay grounded and face reality as well as overcome the
challenges life throws at us or we will become lost and detached from our lives on Earth;
of which we only have one.