On 'Provide, Provide' by Robert Frost - by Richard Parks

Richard Parks
October 26, 2001
English Lit. and the Bible
Presentation: 'Provide, Provide'

This essay was written by Van Dyke Parks' son Richard for a university presentation. It is of special interest to fans of Van Dyke Parks' work, as Parks recites the poem on the Moonlighting - Live At The Ash Grove album.

Robert Frost uses an understated Biblical reference in his poem 'Provide, Provide' to expand his inherently modern critique of Hollywood. Frost mentions 'the beauty Abishag' in the third line of the poem very casually. He is so well-versed in scripture that he drops this name as non-chalantly as many would a movie-star's or a famous athlete's. This is not to say that Frost thinks the reference insignificant nor that it is presented blasphemously, but rather that his academic background fuels his mind with such stuff for everyday use. In actuality, this one brief reference sets the basic premise for the entire poem.

Indeed, the role of 'the beauty Abishag' is somewhat diminuitive in the Bible itself. Abishag is mentioned only briefly in I Kings 1. She is a virgin brought to king David for the purpose of re-awakening his aging body and mind. The relevant information for Frost's purposes is that the damsel was fair and innocent and pure.

Frost suggests that this symbol of innocence is what Hollywood transforms into 'the withered hag.' The crone he speaks of who must now 'wash the steps with pail and rag' began as 'the picture pride of Hollywood.' Frost's words conjure up images of glamorous starlits from Hollywood's 'Golden Age' - Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, Judy Garland. Frost cleverly and subtlely translates the image of Abishag for a modern vocabulary by calling up our indexes of soft and chrome faces and golden locks.

After establishing this foundation by way of his Biblical reference, Frost goes on in the third stanza to construct his diatribe on the inherent corruption of show business. He advises that one should 'Die early' to 'avoid the fate' that awaits the poor, unsuspecting aspirant movie star.

Frost introduces the theme of greed in the fourth stanza, again giving his poem a Biblical bent. He criticizes Hollywood's lust for fortune and wordly things. This message resembles many like it found throughout Biblical texts (e.g. Jesus' teachings). Frost mockingly suggests that if you do wish to avoid the fate of his Abishag, 'Make the whole stock exchange your own!/If need be, occupy a throne,/Where nobody can call you crone.' Frost implies here that a curmudgeonly, Charlie Cane-esque fate is the only alternative to unglamorous poverty. This exemplifies the tendency of Biblical themes to find there way somehow into literature. Although Frost's intention to reference the Bible here is questionable, his theme is clearly Biblical.

The fifth staza is the only one that proffers a sense of hope, albeit a false one. Here Frost assures the reader that if he does try, maybe he really can occupy such a throne. However, if his meaning was not clear before, Frost, in the following stanza, eradicates any ambiguity about his view of Hollywood that possibly lingers in the reader's mind.

He advises in the sixth stanza that 'No memory of having starred,' i.e. noxcamount of fame or fortune, 'keeps the end from being hard.' He warns here that a life in show business, a spiritually devoid life, will end in a painful, lonesome way.

Frost attains the highest limits of seething sacasm in his final stanza, suggesting to the aspiring actor that it is 'Better to go down dignified/With boughten friendship at your side/Than none at all. Provide, provide!' He suggests that, in Hollywood, even friendship has become commodified. He asks us: Is the only way to survive life in Hollywood is to indulge and perpetuate this greed and corruption that overcomes you by buying friends?

The entire mood of 'Provide, Provide' is a reminiscent one. Frost yearns for forgotten times when values where, in one way, more Biblical. Not to say that the poem's very nature is didactically Christian, for it is obviously, in the most part, a critique on Hollywood. However, the consistant underlying moralizing tone could certainly be labled as a religious one.