SINGING AND NOT SINGING: THE CURIOUS CASE OF FROST'S OVEN BIRD.
The article analyzes Robert Frost’s poem “The Oven Bird,” focusing on the paradoxical line where the bird “knows in singing not to sing.” It argues that Frost employs the rhetorical figure antanaclasis, using the verb “to sing” in different senses: the bird sings musically but does not sing to celeb...
| Publicado en: | Renascence Vol. 78; no. 1; pp. 19 - 32 |
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| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Literary Criticism |
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Marquette University
Winter2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=192835158&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 192835158 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00344346 RNS jtl: Renascence issn: 00344346 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Winter2026 vid: 78 iid: 1 pid: 1959 pub: Marquette University artinfo: ui: 192835158 ppf: 19 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 2.8MB tig: atl: SINGING AND NOT SINGING: THE CURIOUS CASE OF FROST'S OVEN BIRD. aug: au: Davis, Matthew M. affil: Northwestern University su: Frost, Robert, 1874-1963 Symbolism Polysemy Poetry studies Poetry (Literary form) Modern poetry Poets Expressive behavior 20th century (Literary period) sug: subj: Frost, Robert, 1874-1963 Symbolism Polysemy Poetry studies Poetry (Literary form) Modern poetry Poets Expressive behavior 20th century (Literary period) ab: The article analyzes Robert Frost’s poem “The Oven Bird,” focusing on the paradoxical line where the bird “knows in singing not to sing.” It argues that Frost employs the rhetorical figure antanaclasis, using the verb “to sing” in different senses: the bird sings musically but does not sing to celebrate, instead singing to state facts and pose questions about a diminished natural world. This distinguishes Frost’s oven bird from traditional poetic songbirds that sing only to celebrate, suggesting a modern poetic voice capable of lyrical expression without joyous celebration. The oven bird thus symbolizes a poet who continues to create meaningful poetry amid decline or loss, expanding the poetic register beyond celebration to include statement and inquiry. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Literary Criticism src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Renascence is the property of Marquette University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Renascence holder: Marquette University dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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