Frost's poem, “Maple,” raises three distinct issues: 1) What is the significance of the name “Maple” and of the circumstances contributing to the naming of Maple? 2) What is the significance of the phrase “wave offering” in the biblical passages where the maple leaf was found? and 3) What does the poem mean? My thesis centers on a biblical and etymological analysis of the Hebrew word for “offering” that is central to Frost's poem. The paper begins with an investigation into the Old Testament origins of this phrase and then analyzes the significance of Maple's naming and the poem's relevance to Frost's themes and previous poems.
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