Symbol Analysis
The scythe is a simple farm tool, but it is full of symbolism. The tool itself is pretty wicked looking, even if it is fairly primitive—a stick with a long, extremely sharp, curved blade. The Grim Reaper is almost always portrayed with a particularly nasty scythe in hand, and it's likely that Frost was intending this to play into the poem on some level. When the scythe whispers, perhaps it is death whispering to the narrator to remind him that his time on this earth is limited and that he shouldn't waste his time on trivial, unrewarding matters.
- Lines 1-2: The scythe "whispering" is the only sound. It is interesting that the scythe isn't speaking directly to the speaker, though. Instead it whispers to the ground and the speaker is merely overhearing it because it's so quiet. Of course, it's probably only quiet to the speaker because he's totally consumed by his manual labor; he's in the zone with his work.
- Line 3: The scythe is the second "it" in this line, which asks what the scythe whispered. The speaker doesn't know. If the scythe is a symbol for death, then it makes perfect sense that the speaker wouldn't know what it said since no one truly knows what happens after death.
- Line 6: Here we are reminded once again that the scythe is whispering. Whatever truths this scythe may be symbolizing, you've got to listen closely and really focus in order to hear them.
- Line 14: In the last line the scythe is no longer an "it"; it gets back its name. It's almost as if the narrator is waking up from his daydream and remembering that he has serious work to do. The scythe is just a scythe, after all. However, it leaves the hay to make, which is also reminding the speaker that there is more work to be done. No fantasy of whispering farm tools is going to make that reality disappear.