"A Considerable Speck/ (Microscopic)"

I had not read this Frost poem before I encountered it in Perrine's Literature, the anthology that we are using in my AP class. When I saw his name in italics at the end of the poem, I assumed that I would be reading about turning leaves in an East Coast wood or perhaps an animal or a rustic feature that the poet encountered on a lazy walk in the country. I was surprised to read a poem about the act of writing; of course, the titular tiny mite itself is a natural being, but it is notably out of place on the speaker's white paper. Frost often considers the human element in the natural world: the two roads diverging, the wall to be mended, or even the conspicuously absent farmhouse in "Stopping By Woods," but here, the tiny mite of nature is at the mercy of the speaker, presumably inside and away from the outdoors.

I wonder if my students who love Frost, especially "The Road Not Taken" will be happy with this poem. It seems to be as much a criticism of the dearth of thought as it is a celebration of the tiny efforts to put those thoughts that do exist on paper.

Frost often writes about close observations that a less thoughtful or more hurried person would fail to reflect upon. Instead of brushing the mite away, the speaker thinks about the implications of such a tiny visitor, and he ironically expresses a joy to see any display of "mind" on paper. Even though the poem takes place in the act of creation and action, Frost still manages to focus on the act and value observation and introspection.