The Eucharist and the Status of Religion in Frost's "Directive" Anonymous College

In Robert Frost’s poem “Directive”, the answer to a question of absolution and religious peace can be found in the form of a journey, led by a poet guide. Frost wrote this poem when he was in his seventies, and while it harnesses many of the same images and tones of his previous works, “Directive” presents a wisdom and a certainty previously uncharted by the poet. While far from morose, this poem presents the Christian paradox and the ways in which man is distant from that which he worships. The Christian imagery and evocation of Eucharist are evident even to those not raised in the Catholic tradition, but the poem serves more as metaphor than parable. In contrast to Eliot, whose works were an invitation back to Church, Frost’s poem examines both humanity’s distance from absolution and the residual thirst for the revival of the spirit, the paradox of finding only in losing. The rituals of mourning and religion as guide are utilized, but they do not alone provide absolution or even solace. Here, the contrast of symbols for death and the senses of childhood present a guide who neither ironically jests nor resigns himself to the grave, but is rather a wizened traveler; a man staring at the sunset, reveling in its matter of fact...