How Does "Home Burial" show Frost's Development as a Poet?
             Frost wrote "In Hardwood Groves"" and "Home Burial" at different stages in his poetic career. The structural differences are clear, the two poems differ in length, layout and most evidently the ease with which they can be read. Although they are so different in appearance, both poems have the similar theme of death; one of several re-occurring subjects that Frost used in much of his poetry.
             "In Hardwood Groves" was published in Frost's first book of poetry; this book contained many poems with typical forms of the time; with regular rhyme and rhythm. It was poems such as this one that threw Frost into the limelight and with his book, "A Boy's Will", he became a recognised poet.
             "In Hardwood Groves" is written using fairly simple language, the ideas behind the poem are expressed plainly with not much fancy decoration. The language used is forceful, for example; 'they must go down'. This is a major contrast to the tranquillity of nature, but Frost goes on to show that the positive outcome of the leaves dying is the new life of the 'dancing flowers'. The message behind the poem is that death must occur to allow new life to be born. The rhymes within the poem show that the poem is under control, this is metaphorical as it shows that the cycle of life and the seasons are also structured and under control.
             Just as "In Hardwood Groves" is typical of Frost's earlier works, "Home Burial" contains the characteristics of his later poems. It is dramatic with a lot of natural speech; the words arise naturally, and are kept simple. In "Home Burial" Frost manages to capture the reality of an argument. The variation of long lines and short lines and the genuinely distressed speech, e.g. 'Not you – Oh, where's my hat... any...