“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference” are the famous lines written by the American poet Robert Frost. He wrote many poems and plays during his life and touched the lives of many different people.
Life before Fame
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874 and lived there until he was eleven years old. His father William Prescott Frost was a teacher as was his mother Isabella Moodie. Though a great teacher and usually upstanding citizen, Frost’s father took to gambling and drinking. In 1885 William Prescott Frost died from tuberculosis and left a considerable amount of debt. Robert’s mother Isabella began teaching once again to support the family. Robert Frost was exposed to a world of literature from a young age and loved reading the works of William Shakespeare and poets such as Robert Burns. Despite his love with rural life, Frost lived in the city; his first poem was published in high school in the Lawrence high school magazine. Frost went to Dartmouth College a short time and then returned home to work at various jobs which he did not enjoy. He felt his true calling in life was as a poet; thus he pursued his writing career.
In 1894 Frost caught his big break and sold his first poem “My butterfly: An Elegy.” He made fifteen dollars off of the sale and with the accomplishment proposed to Elinor Miriam White. Much to his dismay she refused the proposal so she could finish college and get her degree. After she had graduated, Frost proposed once more; she accepted the proposal and they were married in Harvard University. Although he was a valiant student, the strain of college life and a new family began to take its toll, so he left school to support his growing family. They moved onto a farm which had been purchased by his grandfather just before his death, and it was here that he wrote many of his most famous works in the wee hours of the morning. Frost soon realized that his farming skills were less than average so he returned to education and taught English at Pinkerton Academy, and then at the New Hampshire Normal School.
Robert Frost continued to write, and his first book of poetry “A Boy’s Will” was published in 1913 while in Great Britain with his family. On the brink of World War I, Frost decided to return to America just two years after the publication of his first poetry book.
During his life, Robert Frost received many honorary degrees. A graduate from Harvard was just one of the degrees he obtained; degrees from Bates College, Oxford, and Cambridge Universities would follow. He received two honorary degrees from Dartmouth College; a middle school and a library college were named after him also.
When he was eighty six he spoke at the inauguration of President Kennedy (January 20, 1961). He died on January 29, 1963 in Boston.
Famous Poetry Works of Frost
Some of the most famous works of poetry are as follows:
•Acquainted With the Night
•Choose something like a Star
•Directive
•Fire and Ice
•Nothing Gold can Stay
•The Road Not taken
Robert Frost won Pulitzer Prizes in 1924, 1931, and 1937. His writings are dear to many aspiring poets and individuals with a love for literature; and perhaps even those who just love to read.
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