A Research Paper on Robert Frost – One of The Most Celebrated Figures in American Poetry

“Now close the windows and hush all the fields; If the trees must, let them silently toss; No bird is singing now, and if there is, Be it my loss. It will be long ere the marshes resume, It will be long ere the earliest bird: So close the windows and not hear the wind, But see all wind-stirred.” (Frost) Robert Frost is a world renowned poet and won four Pulitzer prizes and over 40 honorary degrees in his lifetime. Robert Frost, even though his life was hard, made beautiful poems with vivid descriptions of New England.

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. His father was a journalist named William Prescott Frost Jr., who died of tuberculosis when little Robert was just eleven. After his father passed away he moved to St. Lawrence Massachusetts with his sister Jeanie and his mother. Frost then grew up in the city and went to Lawrence High School. There he met Elinor White, his future wife. He graduated in 1892 with Elinor as his co-valedictorian. His mother joined the Swedenborgian church and he even was baptized there but left as an adult sadly. Frost went to Dartmouth College for only several months to be accepted by the Delta Chi fraternity. After college he went back home to get a job. Frost tried many jobs including delivering news papers and laboring at a factory, but he did not like any of these jobs feeling his true calling as a poet. He finally published his first poem, “My Butterfly: An Elegy” and it appeared in the New York “The Independent” journal. Robert Frost got paid 15 dollars for his first poem. To celebrate he privately had a book of six poems, Twilight, printed for he and his fiance. Frost married Elinor White in December 19, 1895 and had their first kid, Elliot, in 1896. He went to Harvard University in 1897 but had to quit because of health concerns and to come support his family at home. The doctor said “that he must change his sedentary way of life.” Frost then went to farming. He had always been interested in chicken farming so he picked up some incubation eggs and started an egg farm at New Hampshire. The land was called Derry farm and he was soon known as the “egg man” because of his egg farm. “The Frost's first born son, Elliot, died of cholera in 1900. After his death, Elinor gave birth to four more children: son Carol (1902), who would commit suicide in 1940; Irma (1903), who later developed mental illness; Marjorie (1905), who died in her late 20s after giving birth; and Elinor (1907), who died just weeks after she was born.” He worked at the farm for nine years and at the end of it he sailed to England with his family. They ended up settling in Beaconsfield outside of London. He made some important acquaintances there and only three years after moving he came back to the United States. Once he was back his fame just grew and he spent the rest of his life teaching and writing. Robert Frost died on January 29, 1963. He died due to complications in a surgery.

Robert Frost’s poems were principally associated with the life and landscape of New England. All of the way to the end of his life would his poems be seeded by events that happened at Derry farm, New Hampshire. Though, for the first six years he did not attempt to publish any poetry at the farm because he slipped into deep depression. His son Elliot’s death had hurt him too much. He and his wife agreed that if there really was a god in heaven, then that god was malevolent. Frost devoted himself to the daily rituals of farm life even though, at that time almost no farmers were doing well. However, he did not do too badly because his farm supplied enough to raise he and his family and even though he was poor he was “time rich.” He wrote poems in the early mornings that would later become famous. ‘Out, Out —’ was a poem written by Robert Frost shortly after his son’s death.

When Frost moved to England he met some very important acquaintances including Ezra Pound, who was the first person to give him a favorable review on his work. When he came back to the United States he had already published two full length collections, which were A Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914). His reputation was now established and his fame just grewю By the 1920’s he was America’s most celebrated poet and with every new book, his fame increased. Robert Frost made poems that appealed to both the 19th century and the modern people.Many critics read many of his poems and said that he wrote undoubtedly vividly. Some even said that they could actually visualize the orchard in “After Apple Picking.” “I know more of farm life than I did before I had read his poems. That means I know more of ‘Life.’” Ezra Pound remarked. Robert Frost won more than forty honorary degrees in his life and four pulitzer prizes, one in 1924 for his book “New Hampshire”, one in 1931 for “Collected Poems”, one in 1937 for “A Further Range”, and one in 1943 for “A Witness Tree.” Frost was dealt by another tragic blow, in 1938 his wife Elinor died of cancer. He had seen all but two of his kids die and his wife, and that caused him to leave Amherst College where he was teaching. “In 1960, Congress awarded Frost the Congressional Gold Medal. A year later, at the age of 86, Frost was honored when asked to write and recite a poem for President John F. Kennedy's inauguration. His sight now failing, he was not able to see the words in the sunlight and substituted it with reading of one of his poems, 'The Gift Outright,' which he had committed to memory.”

Robert Frost’s life was hard but he made beautiful poems in those hard times. Once he said, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.”

Works Cited

1. Dickstein, Morris. Robert Frost. N.p.: Salem, 2010. Print.
2. 'E. E. Cummings.' Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 06 Oct. 2015. Web.
3. Frost, Robert. ''Out, Out-' by Robert Frost.' Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2018.
4. Frost, Robert. Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost. N.p.: Sterling Pub., 2008. Print.
5. Parini, Jay. Robert Frost: A Life. N.p.: Picador, 1999. Print.
6. 'Robert Frost - Robert Frost Poems - Poem Hunter.' PoemHunter.com. Poem Hunter, n.d. Web.
7. 'Robert Frost.' Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web.
8. 'Robert Frost.' Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web.