Those are good insights, all of them. I would
disagree about Frost's "bragging"---you're
quite right that the poem is not only in praise
of the woman but also of his own masterly
sonnet---but he never says that, it's just
the undertext. And he certainly has a right
to feel proud of his achievement here---
something very close to perfection. And,
as you say, one figure throughout in a single
sentence---and not a word too much or too
little, not a word that could be improved,
not a rhyme that doesn't seem as fluent and
easy as breathing, and all this in 140 syllables.
And if you wanted to expand the synecdoche that
the poem is, you could say that it's not just
about poetry but about a way of life, a way of
thinking about what freedom really is (a very
different way from the prevailing American
notion). And let's talk about a few of the
perfections; but tomorrow---Ahm tard, as you
say in Texan.
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