The philosophies of the westward stream and meditation 17No matter the elaborate scam offered to reveal or escape it, the theme of death inexorably permeates the minds of men. Death and its cyclical and definitive nature connect all human beings to each other. Robert Frost in "West-Running Brook" and John Donne in "Meditation 17" provoke a universal reexamination of the relationship between life and death. While both authors represent this relationship metaphorically, the former takes a pessimistic approach denying any correlation between the two, while the latter, giving voice to man's dependence on God, optimistically hypothesizes that the crossbreeding is a restoration of our natural paradise. Frost uses "West-Running Brook" as a catalyst toward an insightful philosophy that compares human existence to a westward-flowing stream. The stream's westward direction informs the reader of the poem's focus on death because of the inherent archetypal associations between death and sunset, which occurs in the west. The "rush" and a stylistically discontinuous sentence structure convey the poet's belief in the rapid and ephemeral pace of life. The repetition of the phrase "run away" ("run away, run away sadly seriously") serves as a constant reminder of this transitory aspect of life by adding an element of desperation and loneliness. “Frostian consciousness normally resides in the space-time continuum and finds it extremely difficult to move back or beyond…while remaining steeped in skepticism (Hart 442).” “All this leads to a detachment which in its cultural context is a poetry of isolationism (Traschen 63).” Frost's isolation approaches the reader who cannot help but sympathize and possibly empathize with his situation. Frost'...... center of paper ......d Brave Scorn: John Donne. Duke University Press, 1982. 178.Kemp, John C. Robert Frost and New England: The Poet as Regionalist. Princeton University Press, 1979. 273.Lewalski, Barbara. Protestant poetics and religious poetry of the seventeenth century. Princeton University Press, 1979. 253-282.Murry, John. "Donne's Devotions." Times Literary Supplement.11 March 1926. No. 1260.Ogilvie, John. “From the Woods to the Stars: A Pattern of Imagery in the Poetry of Robert Frost.” South Atlantic Quarterly. Winter, 1959. 64-76.Sherwood, Terry. Fulfilling the Circle: A Study of John Donne's Thought. University of Toronto Press, 1984. 231.Traschen, Isadore. "Robert Frost: Some Divisions in a Whole Man." The Yale Review. vol. LV, n. 1. Autumn, 1965. 57-70.Untermeyer, Louis. "Always Robert Frost." Saturday Literature review. December 22nd. 1928. 71-74.