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Axe‐Helve, The

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 700+ words | Copyright

Axe‐Helve, The, blank‐verse dramatic narrative by Robert Frost, published in New Hampshire (1923).

The poet, chopping wood, is interrupted by a neighboring farmer, the Frenchman Baptiste, who objects to his using an inferior machine‐made axe‐helve. He promises him a good hickory helve of his own cutting, and that evening the poet visits Baptiste's home, meeting his sociable wife, who speaks no English. He talks with the earnest workman, who proves to be a conscientious laborer who knows “how to make a short job long for love of it,” and insists that his children shall not attend school, asserting the superiority of his own proud independence and appreciation of such essential things as the materials of a properly durable axe‐helve.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Axe‐Helve, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Axe‐Helve, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AxeHelveThe.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Axe‐Helve, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-AxeHelveThe.html

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