I know that volta means time in Italian and that it might have something to do with the line of the poem that gives the concluding message. But I'm probably wrong… does anyone know where to find the volta in a Frost poem and what it does?
Ben
Favorite Answer
In a metered piece of poetry, it's generally quite easy to find the volta because there's usually a definite change in the rhyme scheme or meter. In an Italian sonnet the volta occurs with a change in the rhyming scheme from the octave (first 8 lines) to the sestet (last 6 lines), in an Italian sonnet the volta occurs in line 9.
Robert Frost wrote a great deal of free verse poetry which does not use a set meter or rhyme scheme.
Look for changes in tone, rhythm or flow. In a narrative poem you might find a twist in the story.
Often Robert Frost used repetition, perhaps repetition and the volta are rhythmically linked?
Example: In "Out, Out---" there's a volta of sorts, around line 15 where the boy cuts his hand. The saw blade is filled with life and human-like characteristics. Though there is continued personification through the remainder of the poem, there's a definite peak of life at the moment where the saw cuts the boy.
I could say that the poem certain depicts a vivid scene which is full of life, the poem is about life up until the cut. The poem is about dying after the cut, the boy is shown dying and then the poem fades to a deathly silence which is strangely ironic. (because the saw blade which made such a lively noise was never alive.) The poem is about a transition from life to death.
I could say that the cut is a volta of sorts, although the last two lines finish with a very grim message. Life goes on, there's a great finality within the last two lines in which the boy is dead and life goes on.