The Master Speed
“The Master Speed” Throughout the poem The Master Speed, Frost addresses the idea that marriage is a sacred bond that must be treasured all through our lives. The main reason for the apparent matrimony theme was due to the engagement of Frost’s daughter. Because of this great influence over his life, Frost reiterated the advice to his daughter to stay at “the master speed” in order to fully enjoy the rest of her life as well as her future commitment. By this Frost suggests that one should not rush through life but instead take in life, nice and slow so that it may be savored. Frost first presents this idea by metaphorically discussing the spectacular abilities his daughter possesses but refuses to use. In the first quatrain, the poet suggests that his daughter has speed far greater than the “wind or water rushing by.” The reader learns that she also has the ability to travel “back throughout history and up the stream of time.” By this, the poet suggests that his daughters memories can be passed on through the lives of her children. Frost uses these examples to show that by staying at the “master speed”, stopping, his daughter has the ability to enjoy her existence and the commitment she is about to make. In the second quatrain, Frost tells the reader his daughter was given her “special abilities” so that “in the rush of everything to waste, that [she] may have the power of standing still.” By this, Frost reiterates his theme by stating that if you travel through life to fast you will lose all the fun and enjoyment it has to offer. Respectively, Frost suggests that everyone especially his daughter should stop at the “master speed” to take in the beauty that resides in our everyday lives. Frost also suggests that two people joined by the sacred bond of marriage “cannot be parted nor be swept away from one another once [they] have agreed that