How do these great lyrics, each standing out in this volume of dramatic narratives, also combine to structure what may be Frost’s greatest book of poems? How do these three poems underline the fading of the rural New England culture of which they celebrate the signature tasks—a culture that North of Boston tries to honor the preserve. How does their late composition and inclusion in this book of poem illustrate something characteristic in Frost’s creative process? Finally, how do these poems, each so focused on concrete details of rural life, become archetypal in their reach, illustrating what Frost means when he says: “My poems—I should suppose everybody’s poems—- are all set to trip the reader head foremost into the boundless. Ever since infancy I have had the habit of leaving my blocks, carts, chairs, and such like ordinaries where people would be pretty sure to fall forward over them in the dark. Forward, you understand, and in the dark.”