Discussion Questions:
1. Were you surprised by the narrator's decision? Pleased? Disappointed?
2. Why might Frost have subtitled this poem "A Christmas Circular Letter"?
Thursday, November 6, 2025
"Christmas Trees"
Yes, I know it's not Christmastime yet. Shh. This is a pre-Christmas sort of poem. And it's actually one I'd never read before! I love how often Robert Frost tells us stories with his poems, and this one is so homey and cozy I just have to share it. You can read "Christmas Trees" online here.
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1. No, I wasn't surprised by the narrator's decision. I guess I've read enough stuff to kind of guess where it was going. Personally, I don't think I would have done it, but I don't feel particularly pleased or disappointed or anything.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I read this one, I was so worried he was going to sell off his Christmas trees, lol! I'm not sure why. Maybe because he didn't grow them specifically to be Christmas trees, the way a tree farm does, so it would feel like spoiling something lovely just for profit?
Delete2. Maybe he was sending it to his whole circle of friends, so it was circular as in it was sent to a specific circle of people?
ReplyDeleteYup, basically. A "circular" is like an advertisement you send to everyone in a specific area, so it's like he's reverse-advertising. He is NOT selling Christmas trees.
Delete1. I wasn't surprised! Partly because I've read this one before. But I first read it only less than a month ago, actually. I do remember my first impression! I was in suspense as to whether he would sell the Christmas trees, but as soon as I realized he wasn't going to, I realized, like him, he was never going to at all. I was incredibly pleased. It would have been so sad if he had cut them all down and sold them!
ReplyDeleteAha! Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who was worried about it.
DeleteMaybe we see so many trees getting cut down around here lately, to build more row houses or apartment buildings, that it makes us protective of natural stands of trees, in a way?
2. I don't know... maybe he sent it to all his friends in place of like a normal Christmas Card/letter? Like how when we send out our Christmas letters, it's the same to everybody, only the addresses on the envelope are different.
ReplyDeleteKind of, yes -- it's the same to everybody, for sure. The word was mostly used for advertisements you get in the mail, like how we will get those packets of coupons for area businesses. They circulate, they aren't circle-shaped. So it's almost like he's advertising that he is NOT selling Christmas trees this year, which is funny.
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