Robert Frost
Robert Frost, an Americian poet of the late 19th century, used nature in many of his writings. This paper will discuss the thought process of Frost during his writings, the many tools which he used, and provide two examples of his works.
Robert Frost was born in San Franciso on March 26, 1874, but later moved to Lawrence, Massachuschusetts (after his father died) where he did most of his writing. He was a simple man who taught, worked in a mill, was a reporter, was a New England farmer, and wrote. Throughout his life he had always been interested in literature. He attended Dartmouth College, but remained less than one semester. In 1894 he sold his first work “My Butterfly: An Elegy” to a New York journal. A
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“The Road Not Taken” was originally published in 1916 and it was Frost most popular poem to date. Still today it is considered one of his best and most popular works. The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood. And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Has worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In the leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first foe another day! Yet knowing how way leads onto way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
The reader can just picture Robert Frost walking in a wooded area of the New Hampshire forest when suddenly he comes upon a trail that divides and he wrote “The Road Not Taken”. A poem that has been used in countless high school graduation speeches and as a metaphor for any situation in which a person must make an important decision. The
Robert began writing poetry during his high school years and attend Dartmouth College in 1892 (poets.org) He then later transferred to Harvard University, but never actually received a college degree. On November 8, 1894, Roberts’s first poem, My Butterfly, was published in a New York newspaper (poets.org). In 1895, Robert married Elinor Miriam White, she was a major inspiration for Roberts poetry until she passed away in 1938 (poets.org). By 1915 Robert had published A Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914) and his carrier began to take off (poets.org). By the 1920s Robert Frost had become one of the most popular poets in America and his popularity only increased with each new book, including New Hampshire (1923), A Further Range (1936), Steeple Bush (1947), and In the Clearing (1962) (poets.org). Much of Frost’s work consisted of the life and landscape of New England and was usually had traditional verse forms and metrics, unlike many other American poets at the time. Robert Frost passed away January 29, 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Robert Frost was a famous poet and educator born in San Francisco in 1874 who made an impact on the literature known today. After high school, he attended college where he studied literature and poetry. During college, Frost began writing his own poems and in 1894, he had successfully published his first poem. Despite his many accomplishments, Frost faced a major downfall that could not be fulfilled by his success. One might expect that publishing his first poem might be a time of pride and joy, however, Frost was fighting his own battles of depression and mental illness.
When his father died in 1885 he moved to Massachusetts with his mom and sister. He spent his whole life in the Massachusetts area. “Frost attended high school in that state, and then Dartmouth College, but remained less than one semester” (Michalowski). “At the age of thirty-eight, Frost decided to move his family to England. While in England his first book, A Boy’s Will, was published in 1913. A few years later he returned to America where his second book, North of Boston, was published.” (Michalowski) “Massachusetts and other New England areas were the setting for the majority of Frost’s poetry. The nature in the New England area played a big role in his life and influenced his poetry a lot.” (Sweeny and Lindroth 7)
Robert Frosts “The Road Not Taken” is more symbolic of a choice one must make in their life in attempt to foresee the outcome before reaching the end, than it is about choosing the right path in the woods.
In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand
Robert Frost is a very well-known poet. Many people were and still are influenced by him and his works. There were different things going on in his life that sometimes impacted his writing, but it never changed the result of his fine works. There are several things that make Frost famous and unique from others.
Robert Frost went from an unstable farmer aspiring to be a poet to a celebrated American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner. In his poem “The Road Not Taken”, he writes about the hard choices that people have to make in their lives. Robert uses extended metaphors and symbolism to show the uncertainty and psychological chaos people feel while making hard choices.
In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.
?The Road Not Taken? was structured by Frost to form four quintains. The majority of the lines contain nine syllables. This structure is maintained through out the poem. The stanzas are arranged like that of a thought. One continues to undermine the other, much like decision making. Our first thoughts are always second-guessed by our second and so forth until we make our final decision, which cancels out all that was thought before. This is what Frost manages to do in the arrangement of his stanzas.
Somewhere during your middle school or possibly even high school course you heard one of your literature teachers proclaim with a robust attitude, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference” (Frost 1132). These iconic lines are ones that we have all grown up hearing when faced with a tough decision, yet few people have taken the chance to look even deeper into the grandeur that is Frost’s poetry. By his use of imagery, rhyme sequence, and other literary elements, Frost has managed to make this iconic poem relatable to each and every person with its rich philosophical
I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh
The 1920s was an interesting time in American history, also known as the roaring twenties. The decade was filled with economic prosperity, and social, economic, and cultural progress. The period saw a widespread use of cars, telephones, motion pictures, and media focusing on celebrities and sports stars, women won the right to vote however it all came to a crashing halt in 1929 with the Wall Street Crash. During all this incredible change and innovation Robert Lee Frost, an American poet, wrote and published his work “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” in 1922 and 1923 respectively. Frost was born in 1874 in San Francisco then shortly after moved to Pennsylvania. After the death of his father, he moved to Massachusetts and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his years in high school in Massachusetts. After enrolling at many colleges and drifting from various occupations his first poem appeared on a New York newspaper and he became a dedicate poet after that.
Robert Lee Frost, born in 1874, grew up in California. He was an extraordinary student, and ended his high school career as one of the valedictorians. He was very intelligent, and even went on to Dartmouth College, though he did not graduate. He was married to his former high school classmate Elinor White in 1895. Together they gave birth to six children. Later in life he attended Harvard College. Robert Frost was known for his love of nature, and portrays it in many of his poems. For part of his life he worked as a farmer, which could have contributed to his love for nature. Though Frost clearly states, “I am not a nature poet. There is almost always a person in my poems” (frostfriends.org). Frost obviously does not want people to think that he writes strictly about nature. He wants others to see the meaning behind his poetry, as well as the “human psychology” hidden underneath his poems. Frost did love nature though, not to be mistaken. He did use nature a lot throughout his poetry, he just did not want people to skim the surface of his poems and think they were about nature when they
Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. When his father died, he moved to Massachusetts with his family to be closer to his grandparents. He loved to stay active through sports and activities such as trapping animals and climbing trees. He married his co- valedictorian, Elinor Miriam White, in 1895. He dropped out of both Dartmouth and Harvard in his lifetime. Robert and Elinor settled on a farm in Massachusetts which his grandfather bought him, and it was one of the many farms on which he would live in throughout his life. Frost spend the next 9 years writing poetry while poultry farming. When poultry farming didn’t work out, he went back to teaching English. He moved to England in 1912 and became friends with many people who were also in the writing business. After moving back to America in 1915, Frost bought a farm in New Hampshire and began reading his poems aloud at public
In order to understand where Robert Frost is coming from in his poetry it is important to learn about the experiences in his life. Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. His father was from