Robert Frost Essay, Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

In this research project we will be studying the American poet Robert Frost. We will be writing about why we selected this particular poet, his life and how he began his career in poetry, a critical analysis of what critics have said about his poems, and what his poems were based on. We will then give our own opinions on two of Robert Frost’s

poems.

WHY WE SELECTED THIS POET

We have selected to research the life and works of American poet Robert Frost for a number of reasons. First of all Robert Frost is one of the most famous American poets of all time, who successfully reflected the tragedies of his life in his art of poetry. This is not something that many people can do well. An other reason is that he had a very interesting and depressing life. When Robert was only ten years old his father died, he had a troubled marriage, two of his children died at infancy, one become insane and killed himself . We also selected this poet for our project because he had won a number of poetry awards, he won the Pulitzer Prize four times. He had also received honourary degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. The main thing that convinced us that Frost was worthy of our time and research was that he befriended JFK and read at his inauguration which maid him the first poet to do so. Robert Frost had also published his most successful book on his 88th birthday which caused him to finish his career on a strong note.

ROBERT’S LIFE AND POETRY CAREER

Robert Frost is one of Americas most well Known poets. Throughout his life he had faced many obstacles in starting his poetry career, and getting the recognition he certainly deserved.

Robert Frost’s life began on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. In 1895 his father, a newspaper editor died of tuberculosis when he was only ten years old. Soon he and his mother moved to Lawrence Massachusetts with his grandfather. In Lawrence Robert attended highschool and was co-valedictorian with his future wife Elinor White.

After he finished highschool, Frost attended Dartmouth college for only a few months in 1892. Meanwhile he earned a living by working as a bobbin boy in a wool mill, a shoemaker, a country school teacher, the editor of a rural newspaper, and also a farmer. All though he sold his first poem in 1894, Frost was not able to earn a living as a poet until over twenty years later. After Frost married Elinor White, he studied at Harvard University for two years.

In the year 1900, Frost was given a farm near Derry N.H., by his grandfather. Unsuccessfully, Frost worked the land for 11 years and maintained his income by teaching at New Hampshire State Normal School. While living on the farm Frost took walks which allowed him to discover the beginnings of new poems.

In 1912 Frost sold his farm, gave up his teaching career and moved his family to England. In England Frost met many established poets such as Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke, and Lascelles Abercrombie. These people became his friends and helped his literary career a great deal.

With their help, Frost’s first 2 volumes of poetry were published; they were a group of lyrics called “A Boy’s Will” (1913) and a series of dramatic monologues called “North of Boston” (1914). These works won Frost immediate recognition, and in 1915 Robert Frost returned to the United States. There he found that his fame had grown. Later on he continued to write poetry with even more success, while living on farms in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as teaching literature at Amherst College, The University of Michigan, Harvard, and Dartmouth college.

During his poetry career, Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times in 1924, 1931, 1937, and 1943. In 1961 Frost became the 1st poet to read at a presidential inauguration. He read his poem “The Gift Outright” at John F. Kennedy’s ceremony.

CRITICS ACCOUNTS

Robert Frost was a world class poet. He was widely respected for his works in poetry. Many people believe that Frost has established himself as the most richly integrated poet of his generation. Throughout his career, critics had many good things to say about his work. The subjects of Robert Frost’s poems are very well developed and memorable. For example Ezra Pound of “modern geographics” said this about the poems in “North of Boston”. “His stuff sticks in your head, not his words, nor his phrases, nor his cadences, but his subject matter”. Many of his critics have also said that Frost has a talent for describing the essence of human behavior. For example. Edward Garnette of “A New American Poet” said this about “North of Boston”, (Frost’s 2nd book); “Mr. Frost possesses a keen feeling for situation. And his fine, sure touch in clarifying our obscure instincts and clashing impulses, and in crystallizing them in sharp precise images”. By reading Frost’s poetry readers will see that his poems are full subtle effects that can fill one’s imagination and fascinate them. For example, H. Monroe of “Frost and Masters” said this about “Mountain Interval”, “Mr. Frost’s cunning impressionism produces a subtle cumulative effect, and that by his use of pauses, digressions, and crafty envisagement of his subject at fresh angles, he secures a pervading feeling of mass and movement and elusive force of nature”. Many critics believed that Frost was “the best of the best” especially for an American poet. For example, James Southhall Wilson of “Robert Frost American Poet”: said this about him when critiquing Frost’s book “Collected Poems of Robert Frost”. “Robert Frost is the most passionate poet America has ever produced. It is the genuineness of his feeling that keeps Frost from ever striking a false note”, Many other critics have also said that Frost is very different from other American poets. For example, Lascelles Abercrombie of “A New Voice: said that “Frost is an American poet who noticeably standout against tradition”.

THEMES INCORPORATED IN FROST’S WORKS

Robert Frost has incorporated a number of themes in his work. His poetry is based mainly on simple things (even though his emotional range is wide and deep). Such as swinging on birch trees. Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening and the death of man. Frost has a deep feeling for life’s basics, especially love, loyalty, and the awareness of nature and of god. His poetry mainly speaks of the life and scenery of rural New England, and the language of his verse reflects the characteristics of that area. Much of Frost’s poetry is concerned with the relationship between humans and nature. He saw nature as a beautiful but dangerous force, worthy of admiration but associated with destruction. The hidden philosophy of Frost’s poetry is noted in old fashioned New England self importance, and his work reflects his great sympathy for the values of early American society.