4 March, 2007
Robert Frost
Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. In 1885 Robert moved to
New England. Here he showed an interest in reading and writing poetry. In 1892 he attended
Dartmouth
College and later Harvard; he never earned a degree though. After leaving school Frost worked as a teacher, cobbler and editor. His first professional poem, My Butterfly, was posted in 1894 in The Independent
New York newspaper. Frost married Elinor Miriam White in 1895, who greatly inspired Robert in his poetry. The two of them moved to
England in 1912. While he was there he met Ezra Pound who helped promote and publish his work. Elinor died in 1938. In 1915 he returned to the
US, by this time he had published two full length collections. Frost was the most celebrated poet in
America in the 1920’s. Most of his work is focused on the life and landscape of
New England. Frost taught for many years until his death on January 29th, 1963. The Road not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I like this poem because it tells a story and delivers a message, as opposed to others that describe something. I guess I didn’t like that Frost did not say why the road he took made all the difference, he did not back up what he said. This would be a question I had. Frost did not use any figurative language in this poem. Without it, it is still powerful and meaningful.
