Robert Frost - Modern Poet

Robert Frost - Modern Poet

What was his style of poetry and what did he write about?

Frost wanted to differentiate his style from those who had written poetry before him. However he was a traditionalist when it came to form and structure, he mostly wrote blank and rhyme verse. He never wanted to write free verse, he once said 'Writing free verse is like playing tennis with the net down'. Robert Frost usually wrote about nature and working people. His poems have been called 'Deceptively Simple' by many people as they are usually short poems that describe something simple but really have a deeper meaning that he wants the reader to figure out.

important?

Who is He? Why is he so

Robert Frost was a poet born in 1874. He is considered one of the greatest poets in American History. He was born in San Francisco and moved to Massachusetts after his father died. He started writing poetry when he was 15 and finished when he died at age 88. In school he read Shakespeare in his spare time for the fun of it. He is very important as he was writing in the modern period but he incorporated 19th century poetic traditions as well as using modern techniques. His most famous poem, 'The Road Not Taken' was voted America's favourite poem.

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

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.

Robert Frost, a conclusion

I personally believe Robert Frost to be one of the greatest most inspiring poets to ever have lived. He altered the English language in such a way that even an idiot could find meaning in his work, he is a true poet and has affected greatly the pieces of modern poets in today's society.

- Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

Robert Frost - 1874 - 1963

Analysis of Poem

The two roads are a metaphor to two choices the writer has to make, he cannot see far enough down them to see how each one turns out. The 'Yellow Wood' can symbolise autumn which could represent the later years of ones life, and so the writer is past his youth and can comfortably make decisions to a degree. The choice he may make would be of high impact and affect the rest of his days. In the second stanza he makes a choice about which path to take and is contradicting himself - 'Just as fair' yet has 'the better claim'. He tries to convince himself that either choice would be acceptable and he can't make his mind up about the wisdom of his decision. The third stanza he is at the point of self-delusion believing that if this is the wrong path he can simply turn back to go to the other one. It could symbolise the fact that now he is an adult he is past youth and must take responsibility by making life decisions. In the end the poem is about a life decision that shall affect him greatly and whether he has made it wisely or unwisely he can't go back and his life's path has been set.