Notable poets are inspired by their experiences and the things they see around them and the case of Robert Frost is no exception. Robert Frost wrote several poems during his lifetime and his life and experiences influenced the writing of these poems. Robert Frost was an American poet that was born in San Francisco, California to William Prescott Frost, Jr and Isabelle Moodie in 1874 (Meyers). Robert Frost‟s father, William Prescott Frost, Jr. hailed from the New England state of New Hampshire and this meant that Robert Frost could lay claim to the state (Meyers). His mother hailed from Scotland.
The inspirations of Robert Frost were drawn from images he saw from his New England origin. The languages in Robert Frost‟s poem were also drawn from the language that was spoken in the New England region. Robert Frost lost his father to tuberculosis when he was just eleven years of age and this made his family to relocate to Massachusetts (Meyers). The fact that Massachusetts was also one of the six states of New England meant that region would have definitely played a part in molding his life and influencing his career as a poet (Meyers). He attended his high school in Lawrence, Massachusetts and this was the point he started writing poetry. He also went to Harvard University but did not wait to complete his degree program there (Meyers). It is therefore pertinent to examine some poems of Robert Frost and examine the extent at which his life and experience in the New England region influenced these poems (Meyers).
Though Frost focuses on the common themes of most poets, but his poems go a step Surname 2 further by stimulating memories from the past. Most of Frost‟s works acts on the emotions of the
readers as the poems shift spectacularly from comical tones to tragic ones. His poems are based on the interaction of people with their immediate environments. Frost is one of the few poets that recognized the beauty of nature, but also saw the intricacies and dangers that are involved in existing in a habitat such as ours.
Frost was a poet that listened to the speech of the people around him and he used this to develop poems. One of the poems of Frost that was influenced by the speech of his country home of Boston was the poem, The Road Not Taken. Frost heard and recorded the speech of the people that lived in this country region of Boston to write this great poem. Frost believed that man had the passion and instinct to mind each other‟s business. Thus, The Road Not Taken was borne out of Frost‟s attempt to pay attention to his neighbor‟s speeches and mind their business. In this poem, Frost tries to explain that no road can be good to travel like the art of poetry. It was Frost‟s life on the little farm in New Hampshire in New England that influenced this poem. Frost explains that, "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." (Frost 10). The foregone quotation was used by Frost in The Road Not Taken to explain his choice to stick to life in the New England region as he believed that the region shaped him to be the poet that he is. From the Surname 3 title of this poem, it can be seen that Frost was trying to explain that New England is a region
that people ordinarily would not want to live and the fact that he lived there contributed to the inspirations he received to write his poems. One of the results of the inspiration Frost received from making the decision to be a farmer in New Hampshire is The Road Not Taken. It should be pertinent to note that the relatively serene environment in the region influenced Frost‟s career as a poet and contributed to the great work he did in this poem.
Another poem that was largely influenced by Frost‟s life in New England is what could be regarded as his most famous poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. It would be seen that Frost was using this poem to explain life at the countryside. The word, „woods‟ appear four times in the poem and this is a clear indication that Frost was describing his life in the countryside of New Hampshire and his work as a farmer. Frost used this poem to explain the hard working attitude of the people that lived in New England as he laid emphasis on productivity. Frost‟s philosophy of unending and industrious work was largely influenced by his work as a farmer in New Hampshire. This philosophy played a part in the writing of this poem as this can be seen from the last four lines of the poem, when he says that, "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." (Frost, Melvin & Melvin, T 22). The fact that Frost makes mention of going Surname 4 miles before he slept is an indication of the sentiments he attached to work. This poem was also
influenced by Frost‟s perception of the dangers that lurk around the beauty of the New England region as he says that, "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep." (Frost, Melvin & Melvin, T 22). The title of the poem in itself indicates the influence the countryside of New England had on Robert Frost. The snowy evening that Frost talks about in this poem is the description of how it looks like to be a human in the countryside region of New England.
One point that should be noted in the life of Robert Frost and in his experience as a poet is in the fact that he was a man that chose New England as the basis of his works. People should not make the mistake that it was New England that produced Robert Frost, but it was Frost himself that made the region as his point of reference. However, the fact remains that it was the experience of Robert Frost in New England that influenced his career as a poet. The relationship between Robert Frost and New England was not the type that existed between an indigene and his native land, but the relationship was the kind that existed between someone that truly loved the land that he spent most of his life in. A critical analysis of the poems of Robert Frosts would show that they reflect life in the rural New England region and the simplicity in the language of his poems are also due to the plainness in the speech of the people from the New England region.
