Page 7 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Elective English—IV

Notes 1.1 About Robert Frost

Figure 1.1: Robert Frost

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Jb_modern_frost_2_e.jpg
Born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874, Robert Frost was a highly regarded American poet. He
relocated to New England at a tender age of eleven. His interest in reading and writing poetry
grew when he was in high school in Lawrence in Massachusetts. In 1892, Robert got admission
in Dartmouth College. He later took admission in Harvard, but he never earned a formal
degree. After leaving school, Robert floated through a series of occupations. He worked as a
teacher, cobbler, and an editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. Robert, in 1895, married Elinor Miriam
White. His wife, who died in 1938, was a major inspiration behind his poetry till she took her
last breath. After their New Hampshire farm failed, the couple relocated to England in 1912. It
was abroad that Robert met contemporary British poets such as Rupert Brooke, Edward
Thomas and Robert Graves and got influenced by them. During his stay in England, Robert
became friends with poet Ezra Pound, who helped in promoting and publishing his work.
About Robert, President John F. Kennedy said, “He has bequeathed his nation a body of
imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding.” Robert
Frost resided and taught in Massachusetts and Vermont for several years, before he died in
th
Boston on 29 January, 1963. Robert Lee Frost is greatly regarded for his command on American
colloquial speech and for his lifelike depictions of rural life. His work often employed settings
from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to study complicated
philosophical and social themes. A very famous and often-quoted poet, Robert Frost was
honoured repeatedly during his lifetime and he received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.

1.1.1 Early Years

Robert Frost was born to Isabelle Moodie and journalist William Prescott Frost, Jr. His father
descended from Nicholas Frost of Tiverton, Devon, England, who had sailed to New Hampshire
in 1634 on the Wolfrana and his mother was of Scottish descent.
Frost’s father started his career as a teacher. He later worked as an editor of the San Francisco
Evening Bulletin which later merged into the San Francisco Examiner. He was also an unsuccessful
candidate for city tax collector. After Frost’s father’s death in May 5, 1885, in due course time his
family moved to Lawrence in Massachusetts with support from Robert’s grandfather, William

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