The Silken Tent

Robert Frost’s poem entitled “The Silken Tent” is a depiction of the character’s completeness as individual. The silken tent was illustrated in a vulnerable and fragile object that lies within the identity of the character. “She is as in a field of silken tent / At midday when the sunny summer breeze / Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent (Frost 1-3).” In the beginning of the verse, the tent was described as the complete ideology of the character that seemed to be strong and keen to the world’s sense of life. Therefore, it can be seen that the silken tent is the realization of fact of life that occurs within the character’s personality as she unravels her conscious and subconscious ideas of womanhood.

            The whole poem contains different symbols and literary images as well as figurative speeches to be able to describe the comparison of the woman and the silken tent. The whole tent signifies the body and life of the woman or the character of the poem that the persona used to describe. The persona of the poem is a man because it seemed that the persona used to admire with the qualities and identity of the woman. So that in guys it gently sways at ease, / And its supporting central cedar pole, / That is its pinnacle to heavenward / And signifies the sureness of the soul (4-7).” The supporting central cedar pole defines the dignity and pride of the woman as she shows her soul to other people. It is a metaphorical construction of the woman’s realm in a dominating society.

            “By countless silken ties of love and thought / To every thing on earth the compass round, / And only by one’s going slightly taut / In the capriciousness of summer air / Is of the slightest bondage made aware (10-14).” This part of the poem discussed the brevity, strength, compassion, and love of the woman as the persona reveals the idea of love and passion in the eyes of the woman. Despite of the summer period, there is air showing the breath of the woman even if there are problems and pains inside her.

            The title of the poem “The Silken Tent” is a depiction of womanhood and brevity. Despite of the tent’s strength and hardness it is still soft and willing to be directed. These two aspects are ironically constructed to define the woman as a whole. It means that men could not get her easily because she is strong enough to face her own circumstances but still, she is willing to know the facts of life that give her the capability of being a true woman.

            In conclusion to this, it can be said that the whole poem describes the positive attributes of a woman being a woman and an individual of the society – not only as partner and object of desire. The poet deconstructs that idea of woman in a social setting. He did not define womanhood as part of man’s identity and objectivity but as part of the society having her own strength, dignity, and pride all throughout her lifetime.

Works Cited

Frost, Robert. The Silken Tent. 13 June 13, 2008. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-silken-tent/