Robert Frost(1874-1963)
※ 4 Pulitzer Prizes
※ read poetry at a presidential
inauguration.
※ received honorary degrees
from 44 colleges
※ unofficial poet Laureate,
one of the most celebrated
American’s modernist poets
I.Biographical Introduction
born in San Francisco in 1874.
his mother brought him to New England at his eleven, with
which his poetry has always been associated.
After graduating from high school in 1892, Frost entered
Dartmouth College but soon left to work at old jobs and to
write poetry.
In 1897, he was accepted as a special student by Harvard
but withdrew after two years because of his increasing
dislike for academic convention. For the next twelve years,
Frost made a minimal living by teaching and farming while
continuing to write his poems.
In 1912, he and his family moved to England, where he
found a publisher for his first book of verse, A boy’s will
(1913).
Determined to win recognition in his native land, Frost
returned to the US and settled on a farm in his native land.
By the end of his life he had become a national poet; he
received honorary degrees from forty-four colleges and
universities and won four Pulitzer Prizes; the United States
senate passed resolutions honoring his birthdays and
when he was eighty-seven he read his poetry at the
inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.
II. Main Works
A Boy’s Will 1913 >
North of Boston, 1914 >
Mountain Interval, 1916 >
New Hampshire 1923 >
Collected Poems 1930 >
A Further Range 1936 >
A Witness Tree 1942 >
III. Frost’s View and Theme
His poetry concerns New England’s nature. He saw nature
as a storehouse of analogy and symbol, so his concern
with nature reflected deep moral uncertainties.
His poetry often probes mysterious of darkness and
irrationality in the bleak and chaotic landscapes of an
indifferent universe.
The quest of the solitary person to make sense of the
world has become the central theme of all Frost’s
collections and made his poetry among the most
accessible of modern writers.
The poetry of Robert Frost combined pastoral imagery
with solitary philosophical themes.
IV. Frost’s Style
rejected the revolutionary poetic principles of his
contemporaries, used traditional forms such as the blank
verse, plain language of rural New Englanders, and a
graceful style.
there is a steady tone of wry humor, and a virtually
inexhaustible verbal grace.
He used symbols from everyday country life to express his
deep ideas.
As a whole, Frost’s art is an act of clarification, which,
without simplifying the truth, renders it in some degree
accessible to everyone.
V. About the Poem “The Road Not
Taken”
Frost claims that he wrote this poem about his friend Edward
Thomas, with whom he had walked many times in the
woods near London. Frost has said that while walking they
would come to different paths and after choosing one,
Thomas would always felt wondering what they might have
missed by not taking the other path.
About the poem, Frost asserted, “You have to be careful of
that one; it’s a tricky poem– very tricky.” Superficially, the
poem has been and continues to be used as an inspirational
poem, encouraging self-reliance, not following where others
have led. But a close reading of the poem proves not so.
The Framework of the Poem
Stanza One---- Describes Situations
Stanza Two---- Decides to Take Less-travelled
Road
Stanza Three---- Continues Description of Road
Stanza Four----Recalls the Road Taken and
Not Taken
Appreciating the Poem “The Road Not Taken”
Reflective Questions:
1. According to this poem, is Frost an innovative poet or not?
Why?
2. What does the speaker do when facing two diverged
roads? What is the speaker’s initial response?
3. Describe the similarities and differences of these two
roads. Why does he choose the other road?
4. How do you understand the word “sigh”?Is it a kind
of nostalgic relief or regret?
5. What might the two roads stand for in the
speaker’s mind? (the symbolic meanings)
6. Why does Frost himself claim that this is a tricky
poem? What does he want to convey in this poem?
4. How do you understand the word “sigh”?Is it a
kind of nostalgic relief or regret?
The word “sigh” is a tricky word. Because sigh can
be interpreted into nostalgic relief or regret. If it is
the relief sigh, then the difference means the
speaker feels glad with the road he took. If it is the
regret sigh, then the difference would not be good,
and the speaker would be sighing in regret. Hence,
sigh is ambigous here for the speaker is not
showing whether his choice is right or wrong.
5. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker’s mind?
Clearly, this poem is endowed with abundant symbolic
meanings. In the speaker’s mind, the two roads not only
refer to the real roads he has to take while walking in the
yellow wood, more sigificantly, it means two different ways
of life when one hesitates before the life’s crossroad.
Different choices will lead to different futures.
For the poet, it also shows his attitude towards poetry
creation. “He prefers to take the less-travelled road”
suggests that he doesn’t follow suit but employs the
traditional pattern in spite of the influence of modernist
innovation
6. Why does Frost himself claim that this is a tricky
poem? What is the theme this poem?
Three things make his poem tricky---- the time frame, and
the words “sigh” and “difference”.
Traditionally, this poem has been understood as an
inspirational poem, seeming to encouraging people to be
self-reliant and not following where others have led.
Actually, it does not moralize about choice, it simply says
that choice is inevitable but you never know what your
choice will mean until you have lived it. This is also the
theme of the poem.
That’s all,
Thank you!