Robert Frost

NAME Robert Lee Frost. He was named after his father's personal hero, Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Robert Frost was famous as arguably the greatest American poet of the 20th century, known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech . He is renowned for iconic poems including "The Road Not Taken," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Birches," "Mending Wall," and "Fire and Ice". Frost was unique among American poets in simultaneously achieving wide popularity and deep critical admiration .

BIRTH Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California . He spent the first 11 years of his life in San Francisco before moving to New England .

FAMILY BACKGROUND Frost's father was William Prescott Frost Jr., a journalist from a Lawrence, Massachusetts family of Republicans who was also an unsuccessful candidate for city tax collector. His mother was Isabelle Moodie Frost, a Scottish immigrant and schoolteacher.

His father was described as rebellious, alcoholic, and tubercular, who "drank hard, carried a pistol, and kept a jar of pickled bull testicles on his desk". Frost's mother had a dreamy disposition and suffered from depression. (1)

Frost absorbed a strong drive to excel from his father. From his mother, who was a Swedenborgian mystic, he gained an early exposure to literature and a supplementary conception of God as a loving creator.

His sister Jeanie was born in 1876.

The family lineage traced back to the Frost family of Tiverton, England, who had traveled to New Hampshire in 1634.

CHILDHOOD Frost's father died of tuberculosis in 1885 when Robert was just eleven years old, leaving the family with only eight dollars. Following his father's death, the suddenly impoverished family moved from California to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to live with Frost's paternal grandparents.

Frost developed a love for reading traditional ballads and works by poets like Wordsworth, Poe, and Emerson. He also developed a strong individualistic streak from a young age, often resisting formal academic structures.

EDUCATION At school, Frost excelled in all subjects, particularly geography and writing, 

Frost attended Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where his first poems were published in the school's bulletin. He graduated in 1892 as co-valedictorian, sharing honors with Elinor White, to whom he became engaged later that year. 

Frost enrolled at Dartmouth College in September 1892 but left after only one semester, finding that "organized education was never his taste". 

In 1897, Frost attended Harvard University as a special student studying liberal arts, but had to drop out due to tuberculosis and the birth of his second child in 1899. (2)

Despite never completing a college degree, he later received over 40 honorary degrees, including ones from Princeton, Oxford, and Cambridge universities . He received his Master of Arts in 1918 and doctoral degrees from Oxford and Cambridge in 1957 .

CAREER RECORD 1894 Frost was working in a light-bulb filament factory when he sold his first poem, "My Butterfly: An Elegy," in 1894. 

1900-1911 He attempted to make a living by farming in Derry, New Hampshire. Frost worked the farm while writing early in the mornings and producing many of the poems that would later become famous. 

1906-1911 He taught at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire (1906-1911).

1911-1912 Taught at the New Hampshire Normal School (now Plymouth State University) in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

1913 After moving to England his first poetry collection, A Boy's Will was published.

1915 Frost returned to America, and bought a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire, where he launched a career of writing, teaching and lecturing. Frost taught English at Amherst College in Massachusetts, and at the Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury College, at its mountain campus at Ripton, Vermont. 

APPEARANCE Robert Frost was once described as having “the solidity of the close-sodded native soil,” a phrase that captured both his physical presence and grounded demeanor. He stood around five feet nine inches tall and had a rugged build—broad-chested, strong-armed, and solidly framed. In worn, casual clothes, he seemed larger than he was, but in formal attire, he appeared to shrink to a more average height. His hands were full and muscular, the hands of a workman: rough-backed, with large thumbs, long blunt-tipped fingers, and wide, thick nails.

As a young man at age 20, he was described as handsome with "unruly blond hair and intense eyes that were very blue" . He was slender but with broad shoulders, strong from working in a textile mill and on a farm. (3)

Robert Frost c1910

FASHION His fashion sense was generally practical and unassuming, reflecting his rural roots and preference for simplicity. He was often seen in conventional suits or practical attire suitable for country life, reinforcing his image as a "rural sage."

CHARACTER Robert Frost’s character was deeply complex, marked by contradictions that set him apart from the folksy, benevolent image he projected to the public. While he carefully cultivated the persona of a kindly New England poet, those who knew him more intimately described a far darker side: he could be jealous, vindictive, a malicious gossip, and a petty schemer. Rather than the serene and sweet figure many imagined, Frost was, at his core, proud, troubled, and fiercely competitive.

He was known to harbor powerful rages and deep resentments, often described as bitter and egotistical. His ambition was intense—he was ruthlessly self-seeking, driven by a craving for love he often pushed away, and a hunger for fame that not even widespread acclaim could fully appease. Beneath this drive lay a profound sense of guilt; he was aware of his own flaws, once confessing that he knew he was “bad.”

Yet Frost was not without warmth. He could be generous and affectionate, particularly when he could assure himself that his motives were not entirely noble. He was also noted for his emotional toughness and unshakable belief in American strength—he thought the United States should be a nation defined by power and force. This inner tangle of vulnerability, ambition, and pride made him one of the most compelling and enigmatic figures in American letters.

SPEAKING VOICE Frost placed great importance on the "sound of sense" and the natural rhythms of spoken language in his poetry. His own speaking voice was central to his public readings and lectures, known for its distinct, often colloquial New England inflections. He believed that the "speaking tone of voice" was crucial for poetry's impact, aiming to capture it on the page for the "ear of the imagination."

 He was 86 when he performed a reading at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961 (see below)

SENSE OF HUMOUR Robert Frost was widely recognized for weaving humor into his poetry, often with a sharp, pungent edge. He once described humor as “the most engaging cowardice,” capturing his belief that laughter could deflect pain while revealing deeper truths. Though not typically thought of as a comic poet, Frost was, in fact, a skilled humorist who employed techniques like subversion, misdirection, irony, and absurdity to great effect.

He frequently used humor and fear as interchangeable tools, blending the two to deliver his ideas in ways that were both memorable and emotionally resonant. His wit could charm, disarm, or unsettle—sometimes all at once. One of his most famous reflections on humor captured this delicate balance: “If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane.” For Frost, humor wasn’t just entertainment; it was a survival mechanism and a subtle instrument of critique.

Robert Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken” partly as a gentle tease aimed at his close friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas, who was known for being comically indecisive during their countryside walks in England—often lamenting whichever path they hadn’t chosen.

Frost later recounted that Thomas took the poem much more seriously than intended, seeing it as a poignant commentary on missed opportunities. Not long after, Thomas enlisted in the British Army and was tragically killed in action at the Battle of Arras in 1917. 

RELATIONSHIPS Frost married Elinor Miriam White on December 19, 1895 in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  Though their marriage endured until Elinor’s death in 1938 and was bonded by a shared passion for poetry, it was far from happy. Their relationship was often strained, marked by emotional distance and unspoken resentments.

Robert Frost and Elinor source https://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com

Together, they had six children, but their family life was shadowed by profound tragedy. Their first child, Elliott, was born in 1896 but died of cholera just shy of his fourth birthday. The remaining children were Lesley (born 1899), Carol (1902), Irma (1903), Marjorie (1905), and Elinor Bettina, who died just a few days after birth. Marjorie died during childbirth in 1934 at the age of 29, Carol died by suicide in 1940 at 38, and Irma was institutionalized for mental illness in 1947.

In her final days, Elinor reportedly refused to forgive Frost, adding a final note of sorrow to their long and difficult marriage. Their daughter Lesley would later tell her father that he never should have married or had children—a devastating judgment on a life marked as much by personal anguish as poetic achievement.

MONEY AND FAME Frost's income from both poetry and farming proved inadequate to support his family, necessitating his teaching and lecturing career. He received fifteen dollars for his first published poem in 1894. 

Frost's move to England, financed by the sale of his Derry farm, marked a turning point, bringing him the recognition and literary acclaim he sought. Upon his return to America, his fame grew steadily. He became America's most revered literary figure, earning substantial income from his books, lectures, and academic positions. He won numerous accolades, but despite his fame, he maintained a certain detachment from modern society and its industrialization, which some critics noted.

FOOD AND DRINK  Frost’s poetry and letters suggest he valued honest, simple, and hearty food, in keeping with his rural New England roots. He resisted the trend to romanticize meals, preferring to present them realistically.

Frost often referenced breakfast foods such as eggs, toast, and ham in his poems, indicating a familiarity and fondness for traditional American breakfasts. He reportedly believed in the importance of breakfast as a daily institution, once stating, “Going through the day without breakfast is like playing tennis with the net down.” His poetry reflects an appreciation for meals as they are actually eaten, rather than romanticized ideals. (4)

Apples were especially significant to Frost, both in his life and his work. He planted several varieties of apples at his Vermont farm, including McIntosh, Northern Spy, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, and Red Astrachan. His poem “After Apple-Picking” and letters reveal his enthusiasm for apple cultivation and consumption.

MUSIC AND ARTS Frost's poetry is often described as highly musical; critics have praised the "deeper music" and "wonderfully musical" qualities of his verse, noting the intricate rhythms and attention to the "sound of sense"—his term for the musicality inherent in spoken English.

While Frost was not a musician himself, his poetry inspired significant musical works. Most notably, composer Randall Thompson set seven of Frost's poems to music in the choral suite Frostiana (1959), a collaboration that delighted Frost and demonstrated the compatibility of his verse with musical composition. Frost was so impressed by Frostiana that he reportedly stood up at its premiere and requested it be sung again, later restricting other composers from setting his poems to music. 

POETRY Robert Frost’s poetry career is one of those wonderfully American stories in which years of obscurity and hardship somehow give way—just in time—to fame, fortune, and four Pulitzer Prizes. It’s a tale that involves sheep, shovel work, an ocean crossing, and the kind of persistence that would make even a granite post wince.

Frost started writing poetry young and with great enthusiasm, but for the better part of two decades, the literary world responded with a resounding shrug. His very first poem, “My Butterfly,” fluttered into the New York Independent in 1894 and netted him a handsome $15 (a small windfall then, if you ignored the fact that it came with a seven-year dry spell). Over the next eight years, just 13 more poems were published. In the meantime, Frost tried his hand at teaching, farming, and other assorted pursuits in Derry, New Hampshire—none of which made him rich, and few of which made him happy.

By 1912, tired of tilling rocky New England soil and watching editors politely ignore his work, Frost did something bold: he packed up his family and moved to England. He brought with him a suitcase full of poems and not much else. England, as it happened, was in a more literary mood than America and quickly embraced him. A Boy’s Will was published in 1913, followed by North of Boston in 1914. These books introduced readers to what would become some of Frost’s most enduring poems—“Mending Wall,” “The Death of the Hired Man,” and “After Apple-Picking.” British critics were charmed. American ones, suddenly aware they might have missed something, perked up.

When war broke out in Europe, Frost returned to the U.S. in 1915, but now with a glowing reputation in tow. American publishers, who just a few years earlier had ignored him, now couldn’t get enough. He settled on a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire, a place that gave him both peace and a pleasingly poetic backdrop. His next collection, Mountain Interval (1916), included “The Road Not Taken” and “Birches”—poems that would eventually be quoted on everything from mugs to high school graduation cards.

From 1916 to 1938, Frost supported his growing family by teaching and lecturing, which he did at places like Amherst College and the University of Michigan. He was a hit on the lecture circuit, charming audiences with his cranky charisma and insights into the rhythms of everyday American speech—something he considered poetry’s greatest raw material. Students adored him, even as he pretended not to care.

Frost went on to publish an impressive string of collections, including New Hampshire (1923), Collected Poems (1930), A Further Range (1936), and A Witness Tree (1942)—all of which won Pulitzer Prizes, a record four in total. He also released West-Running Brook (1928), Steeple Bush (1947), and his final collection, In the Clearing (1962). Along the way, he collected more honorary degrees than most universities have students and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960.

By the late 1950s, Frost had become a national treasure. He served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress (the precursor to U.S. Poet Laureate) in 1958–59, and in 1961, at the age of 86, he became the first poet ever to read at a presidential inauguration,.

What makes Frost truly remarkable—aside from the sheer number of people who claim The Road Not Taken speaks to their life choices—is that he somehow made colloquial New England farm life into timeless, elegant literature. His poetry is deceptively simple, deeply philosophical, and often far darker than it first appears. He remains one of the few poets who is both beloved by general readers and taken seriously by scholars. Not bad for a man who once earned $15 for a butterfly.

LITERATURE Robert Frost drew inspiration from a wide range of poets, among them Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke, Thomas Hardy, W.B. Yeats, and John Keats. His time in England proved especially formative: not only did he find a more receptive audience there, but he also forged friendships with major literary figures such as Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas. In fact, Frost became part of a writers’ colony centered in the village of Dymock, a small but influential circle of poets who helped shape early 20th-century literature. These relationships left a lasting imprint on his work.

At the heart of Frost’s poetic philosophy was a belief in expressing the spiritual through the material, and vice versa. He once described his aesthetic as an effort “to say spirit in terms of matter and matter in terms of spirit,” a statement that reveals his deeply incarnational approach to writing—grounded in the tangible world, yet reaching toward the metaphysical.

Over the course of his career, Frost published eleven books of poetry. He became widely admired for his unflinching tone, his craftsmanship, and his uncanny ability to depict rural life and everyday people with clarity, realism, and emotional weight. His poems often took place in the fields, woods, and stone-fenced pastures of New England, but they spoke to universal concerns—doubt, duty, isolation, longing, and the tug-of-war between individual will and social expectation.

Many of his lines have become woven into American cultural memory: “Good fences make good neighbors,” “And miles to go before I sleep,” and “I took the one less traveled by” are just a few that continue to echo in classrooms, speeches, and casual conversation. With plain language and deep insight, Frost turned the rural and familiar into something enduringly profound.

NATURE Nature was a living, breathing presence in Robert Frost’s poetry—it , often functioning as a character in its own right. Across his collections, Frost gave nature a central role, not for its pastoral charm, but for its capacity to reflect the drama, tension, and ambiguity of human experience. Rather than offering tranquil country scenes for their own sake, he focused on the struggles and quiet conflicts embedded within the natural world.

Frost’s approach to nature was grounded in precise, often scientific observation. His poems reference over a hundred plant species, including thirty-five types of flowers and thirty varieties of trees. He paid close attention to the rural New England landscapes he knew intimately, and his descriptions—of birches, stone walls, snowstorms, or autumn leaves—are marked by their exactness and subtle detail.

But Frost didn’t romanticize nature. For him, it could be both refuge and battleground: a place of serene beauty, yes, but also one of cold indifference, hidden danger, and emotional isolation. In poem after poem, nature becomes the stage upon which human questions—about choice, duty, loneliness, and mortality—are played out. His gift was to reveal nature not as something separate from us, but as something that mirrors and magnifies the human condition, in all its wonder and complexity. 

PETS Robert Frost had a strong affection for dogs. He had a black-and-white Border Collie named Gillie, acquired in 1940, two years after his wife Elinor's death. Gillie was a loyal companion, known for her intelligence and obedience (e.g., opening and closing doors on command). She accompanied him on his late-night walks while he worked on his poetry. 

Gillie provided comfort during difficult times when Frost had already outlived three of his children and was 66 years old. 

Image by Perplexity

After Gillie's death, Frost published a poem titled "One More Brevity" in his 1962 collection In The Clearing, which reflected on a brief encounter with a strange dog . In the poem, he wrote about "the grief. That comes of dogs' lives being so brief," likely thinking of Gillie when penning those lines.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS In his youth, Frost was active in high school, where he was editor of the school newspaper, a member of the debate team, and played on the football team. 

He was an enthusiastic botanist during his time in Derry, New Hampshire.

SCIENCE AND MATHS Frost's poetry often touched upon observations of the natural world that could be seen as having a scientific curiosity, though filtered through a poetic lens rather than a systematic scientific one. He engaged with public intellectuals, including scientists like Jonas Salk, and sometimes compared the scientific method to poetry, seeing a common pursuit in understanding the world. 

His famous poem "Fire and Ice" was inspired by conversations with astronomer Harlow Shapley, who told him the world might end either by the sun expanding and burning the earth or by the earth drifting away until it froze. 

Frost opposed innovations in science and industry, objecting to researches in animal behavior and new inventions, saying "ingenuity should be held in check".  (5)

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Robert Frost considered himself a "fervent, even zealous believer" who had "no religious doubts" about the existence of God. He once described his faith as that of "an orthodox Old Testament, original Christian," clarifying that his approach to Christianity came "through Jerusalem rather than through Rome or Canterbury"—a way of saying he favored a more direct, Hebraic, and austere spiritual lineage over Catholic or Anglican traditions.

His religious sensibility was shaped early on by his mother, a devoted follower of Emanuel Swedenborg. From Swedenborg’s mystical theology, Frost absorbed a view of the world that blended the spiritual and the material in intimate, often mysterious ways. This dualism stayed with him throughout his life: he believed reality was composed of both matter and spirit, locked in constant, unresolved tension. (6)

Socially and politically, Frost leaned toward conservative values and placed strong emphasis on order, tradition, and personal responsibility. Yet he was also wary of ideological labels and avoided aligning himself too neatly with any party or movement. In ethical matters, he placed justice above mercy and was openly critical of what he called “New Testament sapheads”—those who, in his view, watered down Christ’s teachings with sentimentality rather than grappling with their harder, more challenging demands.

POLITICS Robert Frost was a deeply original political thinker with a conservative bent, though he was reluctant to label himself a conservative for fear of being misunderstood. He identified as a lifelong Democrat but often expressed disillusionment with the party, claiming he had been "a little unhappy since 1896," when, in his view, the Democrats began veering toward what he called "sentimental international pacifism."

Frost’s skepticism of big government and social engineering was especially evident during the New Deal era. He raised his voice in opposition to Franklin Roosevelt’s policies, sounding more like a traditional Republican in his 1932 poem “Build Soil,” which delivered a sharp critique of state intervention and centralized planning.

He rejected egalitarianism and the idea of absolute popular sovereignty, instead favoring a more structured, constitutional approach to governance. Frost believed in a corporate conception of sovereignty—one grounded in federalism, with clearly defined limits on federal power. He was no fan of political innovation and directed what he called “Yankee wit” against the creeping influence of socialism in government. Though his politics were complex and sometimes idiosyncratic, they consistently reflected a deep commitment to tradition, restraint, and individual liberty.

SCANDAL Robert Frost’s personal life was not without controversy, and over the years, his character has been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate. One of the most critical portrayals came from biographer Lawrence Thompson, who painted Frost as a "self-centered egomaniac." This depiction sparked considerable backlash and was later challenged by scholars and family members who argued it was unfair and overly hostile.

One particularly disturbing anecdote involved Frost allegedly pointing a pistol at himself and his wife Elinor in front of their six-year-old daughter, Lesley. The story surfaced through secondhand accounts but has since been questioned for its accuracy by members of the Frost family, who dispute its credibility.

Another storm of controversy erupted when author Joyce Carol Oates published a piece in Harper’s describing Frost as “an arrogant, sexist pig.” The characterization was met with outrage from Frost’s admirers and descendants, who viewed it as a gross distortion of his personality.

Adding to the complexity of his public image were the many personal tragedies that haunted his family life—multiple children lost to illness or suicide, and others who struggled with mental health. These events fueled speculation about Frost’s role as a father and the emotional toll of his household. Despite his towering literary legacy, Frost’s private world was marked by shadows that continue to provoke debate and reappraisal.

MILITARY RECORD Frost was too old for significant participation in World War I, during which he was focused on his literary career and had just returned from England in 1915 .

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Frost suffered from various health issues throughout his life . He had to drop out of Harvard due to health concerns and tuberculosis. In his later years, he suffered from deafness and a painful prostate condition. 

Mental illness ran in his family, affecting both his sister Jeanie, who was committed to a mental hospital, and several of his children. Frost himself suffered from depression and was "plagued all his years by the effects of mental illness". (1)

HOMES After his father's death, the family moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 1900, he moved with his wife and children to a poultry farm in Derry, New Hampshire, purchased by his grandfather. 

The Robert Frost Farm in Derry, New Hampshire By Craig Michaud at en.wikipedia

From 1912 to 1915, he lived in England as part of a writers' colony centered in the village of Dymock . 

Upon returning to America, he bought a small farm in Franconia, New Hampshire, in 1915. He later owned a stone house and farm in Shaftsbury, Vermont. 

From 1939 until his death in 1963, he lived at the Homer Noble Farm (now known as the Robert Frost Farm) in Ripton, Vermont, a 150-acre property in the Green Mountains where he had both a farmhouse and a rustic writing cabin.

TRAVEL Frost's most significant travel was his move to England in 1912 with his family, seeking literary recognition. He spent over two years there, becoming deeply homesick and writing, "I never knew how much of a Yankee I was until I'd been out of New Hampshire". The family returned to the United States in 1915 as World War I began . 

In 1962, at age 88, Frost undertook a grueling trip to Russia to meet with Nikita Khrushchev during the Cold War, despite suffering from deafness and a painful prostate condition. The meeting was widely covered, making him an inadvertent player on the international political stage.

DEATH Robert Frost died on January 29, 1963, in Boston, Massachusetts, at age 88. He died from complications following prostate surgery. 

He is buried in the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont, alongside his wife Elinor. His epitaph reads "I had a lover's quarrel with the world," which he had chosen for himself . 

His wife's epitaph, which he wrote, reads "Together, wing to wing and oar to oar" from his poem "The Master Speed".

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Frost read at President John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961 at age 86, though he was unable to read his prepared poem "Dedication" due to harsh sunlight and instead recited "The Gift Outright" from memory. 

A 1963 documentary titled A Lover's Quarrel with the World was directed by Shirley Clarke.

In 1997, NHPBS produced a special titled Robert Frost: in the Country of Milk and Sugar filmed at his Franconia, New Hampshire home. 

Various television programs and documentaries have featured his work and life story over the decades.

ACHIEVEMENTS Pulitzer Prizes: Winner of four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, a record for a poet:

Congressional Gold Medal: Awarded in 1960.

Bollingen Prize: Awarded in 1962.

Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress: Appointed in 1958.

Inaugural Poet: First poet to read at a U.S. Presidential Inauguration (John F. Kennedy, 1961).

Honorary Degrees: Received honorary degrees from over 40 colleges and universities, including Cambridge and Oxford.

Vermont Poet Laureate: Became Vermont's first poet laureate.

Senate Resolutions: The U.S. Senate adopted formal resolutions honoring him on his 75th and 85th birthdays.

Sources (1) Shmoop (2) IMDB (3) The Writer's Almanac (4) Light-In Leaves (5) NCSE (6) America magazine