(Disclaimer: This interview with Robert Frost is purely fictional and based upon Frost�s quoted statements in previously published medium. The purpose of this interview is to introduce Frost in an entertaining format using his own words.)
Frost: "In the creative act, a certain impulse or state of mind precedes the writing of the poem. Next comes what Stevenson called 'a visitation of style', a power to find words which will somehow convey the impulse. The subject matter is provided by a combination of 'things' that happen to us and 'things' that occur to us. And gradually, out of this happy process the poem gets made, leaving something more implied than stated. It is what is beyond that makes poetry - what is unsaid .. It's
unsaid part is its best part" (Interviews with Robert Frost, 233)
Livingston: Mr. Frost, your poems are on a variety of subjects. How do you find your inspiration for your writings?
Frost: �Occasionally a man comes along, who says, you can't tell me there is any poetry in the process of scratching a pig's back! But I don't know. The farmer on the Sunday holiday is apt to stray out just to scratch the back of his pig or to salt the cattle. It is a little ceremony-a king of poetic ceremony�tender like.� (Interviews with Robert Frost, 33)
Livingston: So, your saying that the beauty of poetry can be seen in even the most mundane task. Its just a matter of point of view and seeing beyond the everyday.
Frost: �I am apt to like a poet who writes about unusual things. It seems to me to be the best proof of a real poet. Moons and running brooks have been written about over and over again. Anyone can borrow them out of a book.� (Interviews with Robert Frost, 34)
Livingston: The style of your poetry is different in terms of your tone and verbiage used; you have a very casual, conversational style. Is this what you want your readers to notice about your writings?
Frost: "What I have been after from the first, consciously and unconsciously is tones of voice. I've wanted to write down certain brute throat noises so that no one could miss them in my sentences. I have been guilty of speaking of sentences as a mere notation for indicating them, I have counted on doubling the meaning of my sentences with them. They have been my observation and my subject matter." (Robert Frost: A Literary Life Reconsidered, 151)
Livingston: How do you feel about the overall process of writing your poetry?
Frost: �I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.� (Frost, 926)
Livingston: So, if I understand correctly, you�re stating that when you write your poetry you�re discovering the subject of said poetry. Do you feel that in your writing you are becoming more aware of the simplicity of the subject or situation, making an observation of its unique beauty or circumstance?
Frost: �A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness, a lovesickness.� (Frost, 927)
Livingston: Those are strong emotions.
Frost: "A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom� (Frost, 926)
Livingston: Do you have a method that you follow to produce your work? Do you draw out an outline or make notes of things that inspire you, perhaps for future works?
Frost: �A poet never takes notes. You never take notes in a love affair.� (Brainyquotes.com)
Livingston: If you don�t mind, I would like to ask a personal question regarding your personal life and the hardships that you have endured to help our readers make a connection personally. During the course of your lifetime you lost your first son, Elliot at the age of 4 to cholera, a daughter, Elinor Bettina, 2 days after her birth, your son Carol to suicide in 1940, Marjorie your 3rd child in 1934, your sister Jeanie in 1929, your wife Elinor in 1938 of heart failure and you had to watch your daughter Irma�s steady deterioration mentally. It seems that you are no stranger to tragedy. Is there anything that you would like to share about the experiences that you have undergone?
Frost: �In three words I can sum up everything I�ve learned about life: it goes on.� (Brainyquotes.com)
Note from the interviewer...I have found in my research that many of the quotes from Robert Frost are humorous in a very subdued manner and I would like to close with one that I really enjoyed:
�Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talks sense.� (Brainyquotes.com)
