North of Boston · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for North of Boston by Robert Frost.
Chapter 1
Dedication
A brief dedication of the book to E. M. F., acknowledging the people within its pages.
Chapter 2
The Pasture
The speaker invites a companion to join them in simple, pastoral tasks: cleaning a spring and fetching a newborn calf. The poem emphasizes the beauty of everyday rural chores and the desire for shared experience.
Chapter 3
North of Boston
A collection of narrative poems set in rural New England, exploring the lives, struggles, and relationships of ordinary people through dramatic dialogues and monologues.
Chapter 4
Mending Wall
The speaker describes the annual spring ritual of repairing a stone wall with his neighbor. While the speaker questions the necessity of the wall, noting that his apple trees will not cross into the neighbor's pines, the neighbor simply repeats the adage 'Good fences make good neighbours.' The poem explores the tension between questioning tradition and accepting it without thought.
Chapter 5
The Death of the Hired Man
Mary waits for Warren to tell him that Silas, their former hired man, has returned. Warren is reluctant to take him back, recalling past grievances. Mary persuades him to be kind, revealing that Silas is broken and has come home to die. Warren goes to see him and returns to confirm Silas has died.
Chapter 6
The Mountain
A traveler describes the mountain that looms over a town, and recounts a conversation with a local farmer who speaks about the mountain's features, the difficulty of climbing it, and the scattered farms of the township of Hor.
Chapter 7
A Hundred Collars
Doctor Magoon, a scholar from Lancaster, is stranded at Woodsville Junction and forced to share a hotel room with Lafe, a boisterous and unrefined collector for a local newspaper. The two men have an uneasy but revealing conversation about their lives, work, and perspectives, culminating in Lafe's offer to give Magoon his old collars.
Chapter 8
Home Burial
A husband and wife confront the raw grief of losing their child, as the wife accuses her husband of emotional coldness and he struggles to understand her pain, culminating in her threat to leave the house.
Chapter 9
The Black Cottage
The minister and the speaker pause to look at an abandoned black cottage, reflecting on the old woman who lived there, her unwavering beliefs about equality and the Civil War, and the tension between tradition and change. The minister recounts how her presence prevented him from altering the Creed, and the chapter ends with a sudden disruption as bees are discovered in the wall.
Chapter 10
Blueberries
Two speakers discuss a bountiful blueberry patch in Mortenson's pasture, debating the ethics of foraging, the thriftiness of the Loren family who rely on wild berries, and the tension between taking nature's gifts and private ownership. They recall past berry-picking experiences and plan to pick in Mortenson's pasture despite potential conflict with the Lorens.
Chapter 11
A Servant to Servants
A woman speaks to a visitor camping on her land, revealing her exhaustion from endless domestic labor and her family history of mental illness. She describes her uncle who was kept in a cage by her father, her own time in a state asylum, and her current life cooking for hired men. She expresses a deep weariness and sense of being trapped, unable to find rest or change her circumstances.
Chapter 12
After Apple-Picking
A weary apple picker reflects on the end of the harvest, the physical exhaustion of the work, and the strange, dreamlike state between waking and sleeping. The speaker describes the lingering sensations of the labor—the ache in his instep, the sway of the ladder, the rumbling of apples in the cellar—and anticipates a troubled sleep filled with images of apples, questioning whether it will be a deep, deathlike sleep or merely human rest.
Chapter 13
The Code
In a hayfield, a town-bred farmer makes an offhand comment about taking pains, which is misinterpreted by one of his hired hands, James, who storms off. The remaining hand, a country-born worker, explains the local code: a skilled laborer will not be told how to do his job. He then recounts a story of a previous boss, Sanders, who gave a command that was taken as an insult, leading the worker to bury him under a load of hay in retaliation, though Sanders survived unharmed but humiliated.
Chapter 14
The Generations of Men
Two distant Stark cousins meet by chance at a family reunion site in Bow, New Hampshire, on a rainy day. They sit on a cellar wall, share genealogical cards, and engage in a playful, philosophical conversation about ancestry, identity, and the voices of the past. The young man imagines hearing oracular voices from the brook, calling her Nausicaa, and proposes building a new cottage on the ancient spot. The woman resists his romantic vision, insisting on plain speech from their ancestors. They part with a tentative plan to meet again in the rain.
Chapter 15
The Housekeeper
The speaker visits the home of John Hall and his mother, who is bedridden and sewing beadwork. The mother reveals that Estelle, John's partner, has run off and married someone else, leaving John devastated and neglecting the farm. The conversation explores the strained relationships, economic struggles, and the impending dissolution of the household.
Chapter 16
The Fear
A woman and Joel return home late at night to a dark house. The woman is convinced she saw a man's face in the bushes and insists on investigating despite Joel's attempts to dissuade her. Her fear escalates until a voice from the darkness answers her challenge, revealing a man walking with his child. The encounter ends with the lantern falling and going out.
Chapter 17
The Self-Seeker
A disabled mill worker, referred to as 'The Broken One,' negotiates a settlement with a lawyer for the loss of his feet in an industrial accident, while his friend Willis objects to the inadequacy of the compensation. The chapter also highlights his tender relationship with a young girl named Anne, who brings him wild orchids, and his deep attachment to the flowers and natural world he is being forced to give up.
Chapter 18
The Wood-Pile
The speaker walks through a frozen swamp, uncertain of his location and far from home. He observes a small bird that seems to fear him, then discovers an abandoned woodpile—a cord of maple, cut and split, left to decay. The speaker reflects on the labor that created it and the mystery of why someone would leave it behind, far from any fireplace.
Chapter 19
Good Hours
The speaker takes a solitary winter evening walk through a village, observing the warm, lively cottages from the outside. Though he imagines the company within, he ultimately turns back to find all the windows dark, feeling like an intruder disturbing the sleeping village.
