Both Robert Frost and William Wordsworth write poetry about the feelings of isolation in the world. In the poem entitled “The Most of It,” by Robert Frost, the speaker reminds the reader of the myth of Narcissus, as he is only able to receive his own echoes and does not receive any new interaction from any other person or entity. In William Wordsworth’s “There Was a Boy,” the speaker is reminiscing over a lost companion who was able to commune with nature before his premature death. There are key differences and similarities in the ways that Wordsworth and Frost relate the feelings of isolation to their readers. This essay will explore the tone, diction, and metaphors which both speakers employ in their poetry.

It seems that the speakers have a connection to nature, as they seek to find an answer from the cliffs that surround them. The tone and diction of both poems is different, because in Frost’s poem there is a sense of despair that the isolation brings, whereas in Wordsworth’s poem, the isolation is a reflective spiritual experience. For instance, there are waves which crash in both poems. However, in Frost’s poem, the waves are only a confirmation of isolation. Frost employs the diction of loneliness by reiterating that the waves “copy,” and have a “mocking echo” (Frost). Thus, in Frost’s poem, the feeling that the speaker is stuck in an inertia of time and space is created. In this time and space, Frost’s speaker is alone. However, in Wordsworth’s poem, the boy is able to communicate with the cliffs who “knew him well.” It is the boy who mimics nature as he “blew mimic hootings to the silent owls” (Wordsworth). The speaker in Wordsworth recounts that the isolation experienced by the boy was one that produced heavenly effects, but in death, it is the speaker who is isolated, as he is “Mute-looking at the grave in which he lies!” (Wordsworth).

The metaphor of nature as a companion in both of these poems relates to the reader that nature is like God, and man is unlike God. In Wordsworth, because the boy was able to communicate with nature, the boy is elevated to a saint-like status. The speaker in Frost’s poem is seeking communication and is continually disappointed by the reverberations of nature. Frost’s poem makes the reader feel that isolation is a private torture; whereas Wordsworth’s poem elevates the experience of isolation to be spiritually enhancing. In Frost’s poem, there is the presence of another being—the buck. The presence of the animal is additional confirmation of the lack of human companionship. However, in Wordsworth’s poem, there is the presence of the speaker, who adds to the human companionship element that the dead boy was able to bring out despite the fact that he was able to communicate with nature.

The tone, diction, and metaphor in both poems recreate the feelings that the speakers are experiencing. The main difference between the two poems is that the diction relates that in Frost’s poem, isolation is inescapable, and causes suffering. The opposite is true from the diction in Wordsworth’s poem, for the speaker is able to confer with nature and with the boy who passed prematurely. Although isolation is a common theme between the two poems, the meaning of the theme is different for both speakers. The reader comes away from Wordsworth’s poem as though a reverent eulogy has been conferred. The reader comes away from Frost’s poem feeling as though there is not another human soul in the world who understands the speaker’s plight.