ROBERT FROST--

Quite possibly one of the most popular poets ever, Robert Frost stands as a prime example of a literary figure that has endured over time. He was a Modernist poet who looked to the past for much of his inspiration. His work, consisting of over fifteen books of poems, is recognized throughout the world. The number of awards and honors he has received is staggering compared to other poets of his time or even before it. Though Frost wrote a large amount of poetry, much of it would come to be inspired by his early life, which was spent in New England.

Born in San Francisco, Frost moved to New England when he was ten years old. Here Frost would go through plenty of jobs, including shoemaking, editing the country newspaper, teaching school and farming. All this work would later influence his poetry, as he demanded his verse be "as simple as an axe or a hoe". Frost also briefly attended Dartmouth and Harvard, but stayed for less than one semester at Dartmouth and did not even earn a degree at Harvard. In 1894, Frost's first commercially published poem, "My Butterfly," appeared on the front cover of The Independent. A year later, he married Elinor White, a woman he had shared valedictorian honors with in high school. Then, in 1912, Frost and his family packed up and moved to England so he could further his literary career. Here he was able to publish his first books of poems, A Boy's Will and North of Boston, with the help of British poets Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke and Lascelles Abercrombie. A Boy's Will, displaying "intense but restrained emotion" as well as the characteristics of New England life, was Frost's first book published in England. North of Boston, on the other hand, was Frost's first book to be published in the United States, and would help Frost gain literary fame when he and his family returned in 1915. Now that he had a transatlantic reputation, Frost continued to write at his own steady pace. He made his living writing, teaching, and giving lectures. In 1924, Frost won his first Pulitzer Prize for New Hampshire, which he had written the year before. He continued to receive an unprecedented number of awards, including three more Pulitzer Prizes in 1931, 1937 and 1943 (for Collected Poems, A Further Range and A Witness Tree, respectively), the Bollingen Prize, and various awards and honors from critics and magazines. Frost was also the first poet to read a poem at a presidential inauguration; he recited one of his poems at J.F.K.'s inauguration on January 30, 1961. Throughout his life, Frost continued to be honored as a "national legend" and an "ideal American writer". In the 1960s, liking Frost was even considered American and loyal. A unique poet, Frost was inspired by many people.

Frost was clearly most influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson; in fact, he is usually referred to as the son of Emerson. Likewise, Emerson is also known as the "intellectual and spiritual godfather" of Frost. Both poets share the notion that observation in nature might be helpful in understanding the fundamental laws that govern the universe. Other influences on Frost's work include Thoreau, Bryant and Longfellow. In dealing with Frost's relation to Modernism, his literary era, one must understand that he usually used traditional forms and meter while new poets attempted to break poetic boundaries that had been held (such as E.E. Cummings). In fact, Frost usually looked behind him for inspiration, as one can see from his strong influences from Emerson. Frost even criticized other Modernist writers, such as Edgar Lee Masters, Amy Lowell, Vachel Lindsay and Carl Sandburg. However, Frost did fit in the Modernist era, in a way, with his talent for American vernacular and his merciless representation of a cruel natural universe. But Frost's traditional devices, such as his blank verse, rhyme, narrative and sonnet form characterize much of his poems.

Frost was known for using vernacular, or dialect, in his poetry. He was able to be humorous at times and serious at others; a light and playful poem could instantly turn into a dark and philosophical lesson on life. Many themes are common in Frost's poetry: the relationship of man to fellow man, emphasis of a human being as an entity, man's relationship with nature as well as nature itself, men as individuals, and the meaning of life. In addition, Frost's themes include mankind's power to destroy the environment, light against dark, the importance of snow and trips to the darkness. The structures of Frost's poems are usually iambic, because, as Frost once said, "the poet may have any length of line up to six feet". Frost used varied forms of free verse, and usually worked with quatrains, couplets, tercets, sonnets and blank verse. Common characteristics of Frost's work include his expressive idiom, brilliant observation, and implied messages. The poet wrote much of the same, generally focusing on ordinary subject matter. He liked his poems to be simple but complex upon further examination.

One of Frost's most famous poems is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Frost considered it to be his best poem, and often used it as boasting material:

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
The poem seems like it was difficult to complete due to its odd rhyme. The poet is, of course, using quatrain rhyme and the aaba pattern, and he switches the rhyme pattern at the poem's conclusion. He repeats "and miles to go before I sleep" at the end, which underscores the meaning of the third line. Many feel this poem brings out the best of Frost's poetry.

Frost was a revolutionary poet who forever changed the face of poetry. He will always be remembered for his contributions to both English and American literature. When he died in 1963, the whole world mourned the passing of one of the most renowned poets in history. In closing, as J.F.K. once said: "He was a great man... and now he sleeps."

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