What do you think?
Rate this book
The Death of the Hired Man
The famous poem The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost.
Enjoy The Death of the Hired Man today!!
Enjoy The Death of the Hired Man today!!
30 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 10, 2012
4 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Robert Frost
1,043 books5,054 followersFlinty, moody, plainspoken and deep, Robert Frost was one of America's most popular 20th-century poets. Frost was farming in Derry, New Hampshire when, at the age of 38, he sold the farm, uprooted his family and moved to England, where he devoted himself to his poetry. His first two books of verse, A Boy's Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914), were immediate successes. In 1915 he returned to the United States and continued to write while living in New Hampshire and then Vermont. His pastoral images of apple trees and stone fences -- along with his solitary, man-of-few-words poetic voice -- helped define the modern image of rural New England. Frost's poems include "Mending Wall" ("Good fences make good neighbors"), "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" ("Whose woods these are I think I know"), and perhaps his most famous work, "The Road Not Taken" ("Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- / I took the one less traveled by"). Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times: in 1924, 1931, 1937 and 1943. He also served as "Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress" from 1958-59; that position was renamed as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry (or simply Poet Laureate) in 1986.
Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy... Frost attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard, but did not graduate from either school... Frost preferred traditional rhyme and meter in poetry; his famous dismissal of free verse was, "I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down."
Frost recited his poem "The Gift Outright" at the 1961 inauguration of John F. Kennedy... Frost attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard, but did not graduate from either school... Frost preferred traditional rhyme and meter in poetry; his famous dismissal of free verse was, "I'd just as soon play tennis with the net down."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 28, 2022
Oh, man. This is a sort of poem that will make you cry. Even if you don't want to.
This poem is about a farmer and his hired man. Poet has shown the lives of four people. The master, the mistress, a hired man and his son. The way Frost has demonstrated the relationship between them is heartwarming.
Women right? They have the purest heart when it comes to loving people. Whom they love, they love wholeheartedly. Here also we can see how the woman in this poem makes her husband leave his anger. How she waits for her husband just to make sure that he doesn’t say anything to the hired man. I could picture the beating of the heart of that woman who was waiting just to make sure he understands her saying.
The poet has shown the life circle of the hired man. His beliefs and disbelief. His wanting in life and what he thinks about education and work. What he wants his child to be.
It was a good read. The poem is so wonderfully written that you will fall in love with this poem.
This poem is about a farmer and his hired man. Poet has shown the lives of four people. The master, the mistress, a hired man and his son. The way Frost has demonstrated the relationship between them is heartwarming.
Women right? They have the purest heart when it comes to loving people. Whom they love, they love wholeheartedly. Here also we can see how the woman in this poem makes her husband leave his anger. How she waits for her husband just to make sure that he doesn’t say anything to the hired man. I could picture the beating of the heart of that woman who was waiting just to make sure he understands her saying.
The poet has shown the life circle of the hired man. His beliefs and disbelief. His wanting in life and what he thinks about education and work. What he wants his child to be.
It was a good read. The poem is so wonderfully written that you will fall in love with this poem.
February 8, 2016
Personal review
I read the poem called The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost. I did not like the characters or quite enjoy the plot of this poem. I feel like it could have been a lot better. It did not grab my attention at any moment inside of the poem. I did enjoy the maid idea/theme of this book. I feel like it teaches many lessons, such as pride of work and quality of friendships. My teacher had advised me to read this poem, and I did not necessarily enjoy it, but did learn valuable lessons from it.
Plot/summary
Mary, was a wife that had helped out many people in her lifetime. For example, a friend named Silas had stayed with Mary and her husband, Warren. When Silas had obtained a decent job with a decent pay, he had moved out. Warren was happier now that Silas was gone. He had complete trust into his wife and Silas, but that was just not it. He felt as if Silas was using Mary for his own personal needs. They had not talked as much when he got a new job and a new home. Warren did not like how Silas did this. One moment he was getting helped, and had thanked them; the next moment Silas was off to his own self and forgot about Mary and the things she had done for him. A couple years later, Silas had been laid off. He came back to Mary. She welcomed him into his new home. They had caught up and talked about their new lives. As the seasons changed, so did Silas' mind. He had been offered a new position at his old job. He accepted it, and once again left Mary in the dust. Warren was furious. He said that she could not let a man use her like that again. This time he did no little as saying a thank you. As you could have guessed, Silas had once again been laid off from his job. He had come back to live with Mary. Mary was very uneasy to answering his question. Warren did not at all like the idea of this. Mary then declined his offer. Leaving him off on his own.
Review and recommendations
I recommend this poem to boys and girls ages 10 and up. The gender that reads this does not matter. The lessons learned from this poem is the most important thing. I think that the most valuable lesson being taught in this poem was the importance of friendships, and how dedicated you are to your lifestyle. My teacher told me to read this poem, and I am glad that I did. It had really make me think about what I am taking for granted.
I read the poem called The Death of the Hired Man by Robert Frost. I did not like the characters or quite enjoy the plot of this poem. I feel like it could have been a lot better. It did not grab my attention at any moment inside of the poem. I did enjoy the maid idea/theme of this book. I feel like it teaches many lessons, such as pride of work and quality of friendships. My teacher had advised me to read this poem, and I did not necessarily enjoy it, but did learn valuable lessons from it.
Plot/summary
Mary, was a wife that had helped out many people in her lifetime. For example, a friend named Silas had stayed with Mary and her husband, Warren. When Silas had obtained a decent job with a decent pay, he had moved out. Warren was happier now that Silas was gone. He had complete trust into his wife and Silas, but that was just not it. He felt as if Silas was using Mary for his own personal needs. They had not talked as much when he got a new job and a new home. Warren did not like how Silas did this. One moment he was getting helped, and had thanked them; the next moment Silas was off to his own self and forgot about Mary and the things she had done for him. A couple years later, Silas had been laid off. He came back to Mary. She welcomed him into his new home. They had caught up and talked about their new lives. As the seasons changed, so did Silas' mind. He had been offered a new position at his old job. He accepted it, and once again left Mary in the dust. Warren was furious. He said that she could not let a man use her like that again. This time he did no little as saying a thank you. As you could have guessed, Silas had once again been laid off from his job. He had come back to live with Mary. Mary was very uneasy to answering his question. Warren did not at all like the idea of this. Mary then declined his offer. Leaving him off on his own.
Review and recommendations
I recommend this poem to boys and girls ages 10 and up. The gender that reads this does not matter. The lessons learned from this poem is the most important thing. I think that the most valuable lesson being taught in this poem was the importance of friendships, and how dedicated you are to your lifestyle. My teacher told me to read this poem, and I am glad that I did. It had really make me think about what I am taking for granted.
November 16, 2021
“The Death of the Hired Man” has been adjudged as a most poignant representation of ‘character’ in all Frost.
And, like in “The House Keep,” the character that has most completely been realized here is that of the one who doesn’t emerge as a speaker in the poem.
The major conversation is done by the wife and the husband, though the hired man is the centre of action of the poem. The old servant — pompous and indolent — does not appear in the poem, but he is however the focus of attention, the centre of interest.
We realize the full brunt of drama at the end of the poem where we come to know that the hired man is no longer alive, and that it is his death-state that has occasioned the exchange between Mary and her husband.
Silas is an infirm old man, unable to work and needing protection. He has a brother, “A somebody— director in the bank.” but he would not have any claims on his brother:
Worthless though he is,
He won’t be made ashamed to please his brother.
Warren is understanding. He is never anything but kind to him. The old man needed care and a little money, and Warren was ready to pay him for whatever Silas could do for him.
Who else will harbor him
At his age for the little he can do?
But Silas is not satisfied. He would give up whenever Warren is in need of him most. He would resent the little, Warren would pay him, and ask for more.
Enough at least to by tobacco with,
So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.
But Warren could not afford to pay any more, though he has sympathies for Silas, and wishes that he could pay him more. Now Silas is back again at the door of Warren, this time determined to be with him:
“Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die;
You need not be afraid he’ll leave you this time.”
But Warren has had too much of the hired man, and does not want to have him in, this time.
But I’ll not have the fellow back.
Mary, Warren’s wife, is the conciliator now, trying to find a rapprochement between her husband and the hired man. She strives to make her husband realize the plight of the hired man, his quality as a shiftless, proud man, the fundamental self-respect which lies beneath his plea for help. To get her husband realize the gravity of the hired man’s dilemma, she contrasts his true nature as a sincere simple servant to the wretched condition he is in:
dragged him to the house,
And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke.
I tried to make him talk about his travels.
Nothing would do : he just kept nodding off.”
Warren eventually comes round, and goes out to seek the hired man, but Silas has been lying dead at the door.
Frost has worked into this subject matter, discourse and drama. Indeed, the poem is read as a narrative, as a dramatic dialogue, as a drama. It has been successfully acted as a one-act play.
Most of the narration is done in terms of dialogues, the narrator playing only a nominal role in the conduct of the story.
There are elaborate descriptions and trite sententious exchanges. On points of high tension the language breaks into short exchanges, and in places where feeling and sentiment are worked up, there is verbal luxury. Such for example, is the following description that precedes Mary’s assurance to Warren that the hired man is firm in his determination to stay with them:
Part of a moon was falling down the west,
Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills.
Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw it
And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand
Among the harp-like morning-glory strings,
Taut with the due from warden bed to eaves,
As it she played unheard some tenderness
That wrought on him beside her in the night.
The imagery and the eloquence of this description is a fitting prelude to the thumping speech that forces Warren to realize that he may after all have to take back Silas into service. The short, sententious exchange between wife and husband at the close of the poem has a grimness that is touching:
Warren returned—too soon, i’t seemed to her,
Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited. “Warren ?“ She questioned.
“Dead,” was all he answered.
Tragedy and anxiety only are not the essence of the domestic drama. The husband and wife indulge in quips infrequently. This extravagance, predominantly at the climactic points of the story, acts as a relief in the stress, and contributes to the efficacy of the drama. One such exchange is when the wife and husband indulge in definitions of home, breaking in the deep pathos of the situation. The husband begins the exchange with a mocking:
“Home”
“Yes, what else but home?
It all depends on what you mean by home.
Of course he’s nothing to us, any more
Than was the hound that came a stranger to us
Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”
Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in,”
“I should have called it.”
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”
The distinction of “The Death of the Hired Man” is in the fusion of such casual talk and deep, moving undertones. Frost’s technical achievement, the new blank verse rhythm, is hardly separable from his gift for drama and his wise insight into the human condition. Since his blank verse is so purely dramatic, its rhythmic pattern can be grasped only in the full context of developing character and feeling.”
In short, the poem illustrates Frost’s skill in managing a inclusive story in the compass of a short poem.
And, like in “The House Keep,” the character that has most completely been realized here is that of the one who doesn’t emerge as a speaker in the poem.
The major conversation is done by the wife and the husband, though the hired man is the centre of action of the poem. The old servant — pompous and indolent — does not appear in the poem, but he is however the focus of attention, the centre of interest.
We realize the full brunt of drama at the end of the poem where we come to know that the hired man is no longer alive, and that it is his death-state that has occasioned the exchange between Mary and her husband.
Silas is an infirm old man, unable to work and needing protection. He has a brother, “A somebody— director in the bank.” but he would not have any claims on his brother:
Worthless though he is,
He won’t be made ashamed to please his brother.
Warren is understanding. He is never anything but kind to him. The old man needed care and a little money, and Warren was ready to pay him for whatever Silas could do for him.
Who else will harbor him
At his age for the little he can do?
But Silas is not satisfied. He would give up whenever Warren is in need of him most. He would resent the little, Warren would pay him, and ask for more.
Enough at least to by tobacco with,
So he won’t have to beg and be beholden.
But Warren could not afford to pay any more, though he has sympathies for Silas, and wishes that he could pay him more. Now Silas is back again at the door of Warren, this time determined to be with him:
“Warren,” she said, “he has come home to die;
You need not be afraid he’ll leave you this time.”
But Warren has had too much of the hired man, and does not want to have him in, this time.
But I’ll not have the fellow back.
Mary, Warren’s wife, is the conciliator now, trying to find a rapprochement between her husband and the hired man. She strives to make her husband realize the plight of the hired man, his quality as a shiftless, proud man, the fundamental self-respect which lies beneath his plea for help. To get her husband realize the gravity of the hired man’s dilemma, she contrasts his true nature as a sincere simple servant to the wretched condition he is in:
dragged him to the house,
And gave him tea and tried to make him smoke.
I tried to make him talk about his travels.
Nothing would do : he just kept nodding off.”
Warren eventually comes round, and goes out to seek the hired man, but Silas has been lying dead at the door.
Frost has worked into this subject matter, discourse and drama. Indeed, the poem is read as a narrative, as a dramatic dialogue, as a drama. It has been successfully acted as a one-act play.
Most of the narration is done in terms of dialogues, the narrator playing only a nominal role in the conduct of the story.
There are elaborate descriptions and trite sententious exchanges. On points of high tension the language breaks into short exchanges, and in places where feeling and sentiment are worked up, there is verbal luxury. Such for example, is the following description that precedes Mary’s assurance to Warren that the hired man is firm in his determination to stay with them:
Part of a moon was falling down the west,
Dragging the whole sky with it to the hills.
Its light poured softly in her lap. She saw it
And spread her apron to it. She put out her hand
Among the harp-like morning-glory strings,
Taut with the due from warden bed to eaves,
As it she played unheard some tenderness
That wrought on him beside her in the night.
The imagery and the eloquence of this description is a fitting prelude to the thumping speech that forces Warren to realize that he may after all have to take back Silas into service. The short, sententious exchange between wife and husband at the close of the poem has a grimness that is touching:
Warren returned—too soon, i’t seemed to her,
Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited. “Warren ?“ She questioned.
“Dead,” was all he answered.
Tragedy and anxiety only are not the essence of the domestic drama. The husband and wife indulge in quips infrequently. This extravagance, predominantly at the climactic points of the story, acts as a relief in the stress, and contributes to the efficacy of the drama. One such exchange is when the wife and husband indulge in definitions of home, breaking in the deep pathos of the situation. The husband begins the exchange with a mocking:
“Home”
“Yes, what else but home?
It all depends on what you mean by home.
Of course he’s nothing to us, any more
Than was the hound that came a stranger to us
Out of the woods, worn out upon the trail.”
Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in,”
“I should have called it.”
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.”
The distinction of “The Death of the Hired Man” is in the fusion of such casual talk and deep, moving undertones. Frost’s technical achievement, the new blank verse rhythm, is hardly separable from his gift for drama and his wise insight into the human condition. Since his blank verse is so purely dramatic, its rhythmic pattern can be grasped only in the full context of developing character and feeling.”
In short, the poem illustrates Frost’s skill in managing a inclusive story in the compass of a short poem.
October 16, 2025
A long one, but good. A sad story of a worker on a farm who comes back to find work because he has no other means. The poem alludes to the people at the farm being his only family - the only place he feels like home. The women speaks well of the man and sits him next to the fire. The man comes home and says he's sorry but he has no jobs for him. She tries to plead his case to no avail. He says the man is not our famly. He should go elsewhere. They finally go inside to see him, and find him dead. I don't feel like I'm giving anything away here, since it pretty much says it in the title of the poem, but it's good. Heartwrenching and forlorn, it plucks your heart strings and will make even Scrooge melt. Highly recommended.
April 6, 2022
I really liked this poem. It is lonely and melancholy, with so many themes and meanings packed into such a short story. I normally have a tough time reading blank verse poetry, but I got the hang of it after a few lines. I was captivated by the way Frost paints a picture and lays out the scene just by using dialogue and the bare minimum of description. It was sort of a sad spin-off of the prodigal son, with the wife, Mary, playing the graceful, merciful character. Coincidence? I loved it, and I feel like I could think about it for hours.
July 26, 2024
"Poor Silas, so concerned for other folk,
And nothing to look backward to with pride,
And nothing to look forward to with hope,
So now and never any different.’"
The poem addresses the question of what home is, there's little to ponder there beyond dwelling on Frost's answer - but what is family? There's the sticking point as you finish reading.
And nothing to look backward to with pride,
And nothing to look forward to with hope,
So now and never any different.’"
The poem addresses the question of what home is, there's little to ponder there beyond dwelling on Frost's answer - but what is family? There's the sticking point as you finish reading.
August 23, 2022
‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.’
‘I should have called it
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve’
This poem never fails to get me.
They have to take you in.’
‘I should have called it
Something you somehow haven’t to deserve’
This poem never fails to get me.
May 7, 2017
Master poet
Once again Frost has chosen the right words in the right order. He is one of my favorite poets. Grateful to have found this poem.
Once again Frost has chosen the right words in the right order. He is one of my favorite poets. Grateful to have found this poem.
September 27, 2018
Not my favorite of Frost but I don’t hate it either. I really need to think on it l.
July 18, 2019
weird story about a man. i guess the lesson is to listen to those who are bad in health
read for eng1102
read for eng1102
Read
January 15, 2022Ambiguous. I loved it
December 24, 2022
Short, tearjerker of a Poem. I don't like poetry normally, but because this came up in a book by Stephen King, i decided to risk it.
April 12, 2016
Free download available at Story of the Week - Library of America.
Haymaking, undated, oil on canvas by American artist Dwight William Tryon (1849–1925). Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.
Haymaking, undated, oil on canvas by American artist Dwight William Tryon (1849–1925). Image courtesy of The Athenaeum.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews