Robert Frost's poems are so clearly stamped with the rough features of New England and the unadorned accent of America that it may surprise the reader to discover that he was born in San Francisco and that his first two books were published in England.
But such was the life of a man who saw all of life as a precarious balance of harsh, contradictory impulses. As a young man, Frost was at different times a student of the classics at Harvard, a mill hand, a school teacher, and a farmer in the far reaches of New Hampshire. He published no book until he was thirty-nine, yet he quickly came to know, and often instruct, many of the great literary figures of his time. He became the very image of the poet of simple virtues and local interest, yet his poems are often profound (some say, profoundly dark) and have an almost universal appeal. They are generous and demanding, attuned to both the speech of neighbors and the silence of the stars.
The nation that took so long to recognize this remarkable poet did not short-change him. Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times, an unequalled number, and was elected to the American Academy of the Arts and Letters in 1930. His became the most celebrated face in 20th-centry American literary history. (Someone said he looked like America itself.). Nor did Frost short-change his public. He lived into his eighty-ninth year, and gave a majestic performance at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy.
The poems in this volume are selected from Frost's first three books: A Boy's Will (1913), North of Boston (1914), and Mountain Interval (1916). They are Frost at his best and most characteristic. Here are the great poems of rural life and universal wisdom: "Into My Own," "Mowing," "Mending Wall," "After Apple-Picking," "The Road Not Taken," and "Birches." It is unlikely that any American who reads poetry does not know some lines from at least one of these poems by heart.
The poems are accompanied by the photographs of the distinguished graphic designer and photographer, Charles J. Zika, who lives in Rowayton., Connecticut.
Editorial Reviews
"Of all the poetry written in our generation, Frost's is most likely to stand the test of time." —Lewis Gannett
"Of U.S. poets, none has lodged poems more surely where they will be hard to get rid of. . . . His lines often have the trenchancy and inevitability of folk sayings." —Time
"No other American poet has so much art or so much subject matter." —Mark Van Doren
"Frost was the first American who could be honestly reckoned a master-poet by world standards." —Robert Graves
About the Author
Robert Frost (1874-1963) is widely regarded as one of America's finest poets. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on four different occasions, and also served as Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress.
