Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Frost's poem "The Vindictives" offers a dark and cautionary tale about greed, power, and retribution. Through vivid storytelling and rich imagery, Frost explores the consequences of avarice and the lengths to which both conquerors and the conquered will go in their pursuit of wealth and revenge.

The poem opens with the depiction of a king who attempts to buy his freedom with gold: "A king filled his prison room / As full as the room could hold / To the top of his reach on the wall / With every known shape of the stuff." The king's desperate attempt to ransom himself highlights the value placed on gold and the belief in its power to solve even the direst of problems. However, his captors' greed proves insatiable: "But it wasn't ransom enough. / His captors accepted it all, / But didn't let go of the king."

Forced to gather more gold, the king's subjects exhaust their resources, stripping "temple and palace and store." Despite their efforts, the captors ultimately convict the king of starting a war and execute him: "And strangled the wretch with a string." This act of violence underscores the futility of the king's wealth and the relentless nature of his captors.

Frost then shifts focus to the aftermath of the king's death, describing how the conquerors' greed is met with a cunning and vindictive response from the conquered people: "But really that gold was not half / That a king might have hoped to compel... / If gold pleased the conqueror, well, / That gold should be the one thing / The conqueror henceforth should lack." The conquered hide their remaining treasures, ensuring that the conquerors will never satisfy their greed.

The poem recounts tales of hidden treasures and the determined efforts to keep them concealed: "All joined in the game of hide-gold. / They swore all the gold should go back / Deep into the earth whence it came." This collective act of defiance serves as both a practical means of safeguarding wealth and a symbolic gesture of resistance.

Frost draws upon historical and mythical elements, such as the forest Germans sacking Rome and the Inca prince who leads his torturers on a futile search for gold: "One Inca prince on the rack, / And late in his last hour alive, / Told them in what lake to dive / To seek what they seemed so to want. / They dived and nothing was found." These references enrich the narrative, connecting it to broader themes of conquest and the cyclical nature of greed and retribution.

The poem's climax describes a great treasure, a "thousand-linked gold chain," hidden in a tribal cave beneath layers of ash and bones. The secrecy and mystery surrounding the treasure's whereabouts emphasize the lengths to which the conquered will go to deprive their oppressors of their coveted wealth.

Frost concludes with a powerful moral: "The best way to hate is the worst. / 'Tis to find what the hated need, / Never mind of what actual worth, / And wipe that out of the earth." This reflection on vindictiveness suggests that the most effective form of revenge is to deny the oppressors what they most desire, leaving them to suffer from unsatisfied greed and unmet desires.

In "The Vindictives," Robert Frost masterfully weaves a narrative that explores the destructive power of greed and the enduring spirit of resistance. Through his use of rich imagery and historical references, Frost highlights the complex dynamics between conquerors and the conquered, ultimately revealing the hollow nature of material wealth and the enduring strength of human defiance. The poem serves as a stark reminder of the futility of greed and the profound impact of retribution.

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