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Robert Frost's poem “Home Burial” is about a couple whose relationship is strained after the death of their child. The father buries their child in the yard during a New England winter, while the mother watches from a window. The couple have a tense conversation about the loss, where the mother expresses her distress and the father tries to understand. She resents him for his composure and what she sees as his hard-heartedness. The staircase in the poem symbolizes both the couple's ability to come together and the distance between them. The poem is set in a charged emotional state, with high contrast and desperate caring. The poem has an abrupt ending that delivers ambivalence.

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The characters in Robert Frost's poem "Home Burial" are a husband and wife who are dealing with the death of their child in different ways:

The wife/mother is cold and distrustful of her husband, and she feels that he doesn't understand her grief. She believes that he doesn't have any feelings about their son's death.

The husband/father accepts the biological cycle of life and death, and he moves on. He believes that his wife is "overdoing it a little" with her grief. He has difficulty accessing more vulnerable emotions, and he explains this by saying, “A man must partly give up being a man / With women-folk”.

The poem suggests that the couple's inability to communicate is the source of their troubles, not gender differences. The staircase where the action of the poem takes place symbolizes both the ability of the couple to come together and the distance between them.

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Robert Frost's life was marked by tragedy, including the deaths of loved ones, mental illness, and financial difficulties:

Family losses
Frost's father died of tuberculosis when he was 11, and his mother died of cancer in 1900. Six of his children died, including two in infancy and another before age four. His son Carol committed suicide, and his younger sister Jeanie was committed to a mental hospital and died there nine years later.

Mental illness
Frost and his mother both suffered from depression, and his daughter Irma was also committed to a mental hospital.

Financial struggles
Frost had a difficult time financially, and taught school and farmed to support his family. He said he had to do many things to make ends meet, including washing dishes.

Education
Frost attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University, but left both schools to work and write.

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Dialogue

The poem features a series of charged exchanges between the couple that highlight how difficulties can strain relationships.

Communication breakdown

The wife is distraught after seeing the child's grave and her husband doesn't immediately understand why she is upset. She resents his composure and hard-heartedness.

Distance

The poem shows how the couple remain distant despite the wife venting her anger and frustration.

Impact of loss

The poem emphasizes the impact of loss and the need for those involved to communicate or discuss their grief.

Biographical reference

Some readers sense a biographical reference, as Frost lost a child and may have experienced a similar shift in his relationship with his wife.

The title “Home Burial” uses a double entendre to connote the death of the child and the death of the couple's relationship. Frost published “Home Burial” in his 1914 collection North of Boston.