19 pages • 38 minutes read
Robert FrostOnce by the Pacific
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1928A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
Auspex by Robert Frost (1962)
Like “Once by the Pacific,” “Auspex” is inspired by another of Frost’s childhood experiences in California. An eagle swooped down on the young boy; Frost ran to his parents for protection. Again, the speaker attributes potential cosmic significance to this mundane event: The eagle’s attack resembles the abduction of the Trojan prince Ganymede by the Greek god Zeus. While Frost’s tone is firmly tongue-in-cheek here—he playfully resents his parents’ unwillingness to see the dangerous potential of the encounter—the speaker’s skewed, childlike perception of events recalls “Once by the Pacific.”
The Discovery of the Pacific by Thomas Gunn (1970)
Thomas Gunn was a British poet who lived in California. This poem offers a stark contrast to “Once by the Pacific.” Here, the ocean is not menacing or apocalyptic; instead, two young lovers enjoy looking out on it at sunset, leaning up against the back of their car. They have driven to the West Coast from Kansas. Another pleasant oceanic image sees them standing in the water up their chins, embracing and enjoying the lapping of the waves.
Fire and Ice by Robert Frost (1923)
Like “Once by the Pacific,” “Fire and Ice” is an apocalyptic poem that envisions the end of the world. The speaker weighs the alternatives; some people say the world will end by fire, others, by ice. The speaker associates fire with human desire or passion and ice with hatred. Either would sufficiently powerful to destroy the world, he argues.
Spring Pools by Robert Frost (1928)
In springtime, the speaker appeals to the growing trees in the forest, asking them not to dry up nearby pools or destroy neighboring flowers. In this poem, the water is threatened by burgeoning vegetation in spring: That is, water is threatened by land. This is the opposite of the conflict in “Once by the Pacific,” where water threatens to drown the shore.
Further Literary Resources
The Life of Robert Frost: A Critical Biography by Henry Hart (2017)
Humanities professor and literary critic Henry Hart delves into Robert Frost’s ancestry, revealing the influence of mental illness on Frost’s family history and his poetry. Hart explores the traumatic effect the early death of Frost’s father, Will Frost, had on the poet. He also discusses the influence of Frost’s mother’s unorthodox beliefs. She subscribed to the teachings of the eighteenth-century Swedish seer, Emanuel Swedenborg.
Robert Frost: Speaking on Campus: Excerpts from His Talks, 1949-1962 by Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem (2009)
This is a collection of forty-six of Frost’s talks and lectures presented to students at more than thirty colleges over three decades.
The Cambridge Introduction to Robert Frost by Robert Faggan (2008)
This overview offers detailed readings of many of Frost’s poems, as well as discussions of his poetry in relation to poetic tradition and his interest in language and sound.
Listen to Poem
“Once by the Pacific” is read by Robert Frost, from "Robert Frost Reads the Poems of Robert Frost" (Decca 1957 - DL 9033). Frost reads his poem with incantatory power and conviction.
Related Titles
By Robert Frost
