Just one of Frost's famous lines of poetry.
Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) was an American poet, well-known for his poems depicting pastoral New England. Winner of four Pulitzer Prizes, Frost's poems did more than just concern rural American life. Instead, Frost explored both philosophical and social themes in his work, making him the most widely admired 20th century American poet, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Biography
Although born in San Francisco, Frost moved to New England when he was 11 years old. He studied at both Dartmouth and Harvard, but never received a degree. His first poem, "My Butterfly," was published in 1894. Frost moved to England with his wife and lived there from 1912 to 1915, befriending poet Ezra Pound while there. After returning to the United States, he published the collections A Boy's Will and North of Boston and became more and more popular with each subsequent collection.
Frost's Style
Frost's poetry did not emulate the popular currents in 20th century poetry. Instead, he used traditional metrics and verse forms. Much of his poetry used traditional, everyday speech. In his poems, Frost explored dark themes such as death and the hardscrabble New England life. Much of his poetry views nature as a destructive, rather than healing force, breaking away from Emersonian poets who worshiped the beauty of nature. However, some of Frost's best loved poems are also optimistic.
Famous Poems
Perhaps the most famous of Frost's poems is "The Road Not Taken," his 1916 poem that is celebrated by some as a toast to individualism. However, the poem is also viewed as an ironic look at rationalizing one's own decisions. Another popular Frost poem is "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," written in 1922. On one level, the poem is a beatific depiction of winter in New England, while on a deeper level, it is a meditation on death, featuring the famous line, "And miles to go before I sleep."
Legacy
Since his death in 1963, Frost remains on of America's most revered and beloved poets. According to poet Daniel Hoffman, Frost was a national celebrity and "our nearly official Poet Laureate," comparing his importance in American literature to Mark Twain. While some poets and critics consider his work both political and poetically conservative, Frost remains one of the best known poets of the 20th century. His goal, he said, was to write poetry that is "hard to get rid of."
