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American Literature: The Modernist Period: Frost

A research topic guide on the modernist period of American literature.

Roert Frost

Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) was an American poet. His most famous works include "The Road Not Taken", "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", and "Fire and Ice".  Frost won four Pulitzer Prizes for his work.

Research & Reference

Robert Frost: New England in Autumn

A selection of Frost’s poems chosen to suit a perfect New England autumn day. Filmed in the beautiful farm country of Massachusetts. Poems include “The Pasture,” “October” (excerpt), “Going for Water,” “Birches,” “Locked Out—As told to a Child,” “The Exposed Nest,” “A Nature Note,” “The Last Word of a Bluebird—As Told to a Child,” “The Cow in Apple Time,” “Mending Wall,” “A Time to Talk,” “After Apple-Picking,” “In Hardwood Groves,” “The Wood-Pile,” “Tree at My Window,” “Acceptance,” and “The Road Not Taken.” As seen on PBS. (28 minutes)

Source: Films on Demand

Robert Frost - American Poet & Four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner

Watch a short video biography of poet Robert Frost, winner of four Pulitzer Prizes and the Inaugural Poet for President Kennedy in 1961

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2stTH-rtq8

Author's Works & Perspectives

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

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. From the illustrator of the world's first picture book adaptation of Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" comes a new interpretation of another classic Frost poem: "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening." Weaving a simple story of love, loss, and memories with only illustrations and Frost's iconic lines, this stirring picture book introduces young readers to timeless poetry in an unprecedented way.  

The Road Not Taken and Other Poems

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. "These deceptively simple lines from the title poem of this collection suggest Robert Frost at his most representative: the language is simple, clear and colloquial, yet dense with meaning and wider significance. Drawing upon everyday incidents, common situations and rural imagery, Frost fashioned poetry of great lyrical beauty and potent symbolism. Now a selection of the best of his early works is available in this volume, originally published in 1916 under the title Mountain Interval. Included are many moving and expressive poems: "An Old Man's Winter Night," "In the Home Stretch," "Meeting and Passing," "Putting In the Seed," "A Time to Talk," "The Hill Wife," "The Exposed Nest," "The Sound of Trees" and more. All are reprinted here complete and unabridged. Includes "The Road Not Taken."

Robert Frost: Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays

Justly celebrated at home and abroad, Robert Frost is perhaps America's greatest twentieth-century poet and a towering figure in American letters. From the publication of his first collections,A Boy's Will(1913) andNorth of Boston(1914), Frost was recognized as a poet of unique power and formal skill, and the enduring significance of his work has been acknowledged by each subsequent generation. His poetry ranges from deceptively simply pastoral lyrics and genial, vernacular genre pieces to darker meditations, complex and ironic. Here, based on extensive research into his manuscripts and published work, is the first authoritative and truly comprehensive collection of his writings. Brought together for the first time in a Library of America single volume is all the major poetry, a generous selection of uncollected poems, all of Frost's dramatic writing, and the most extensive gathering of his prose writings ever published, several of which are printed here for the first time. The core of this collection is the 1949Complete Poems of Robert Frost, the last collection supervised by Frost himself. This version of the poems is free of unauthorized editorial changes introduced into subsequent editions. Also included isIn the Clearing(1962), Frost's final volume of poetry. Verse drawn from letters, articles, pamphlets, and journals makes up the largest selection of uncollected poems ever assembled, including nearly two dozen beautiful early works printed for the first time. Also gathered here are all the dramatic works- three plays and two verse masques. The unprecedented prose section includes more than three times as many items as any other collection available. It is rich and diverse, presenting many newly discovered or rediscovered pieces. Especially unusual items include Frost's contribution to John F. Kennedy's inauguration and two fascinating 1959 essays on "The Future of Man." Several manuscript items are published here for the first time, including the essays "'Caveat Poeta'" and "The Way There," Frost's remarks on being appointed poetry consultant to the Library of Congress in 1958, the preface to a proposed new edition ofNorth of Boston, and many others. A selection of letters represents all of Frost's important comments about prosody, poetics, style, and his theory of "sentence sounds." LIBRARY OF AMERICAis an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation's literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America's best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.

The Art of Robert Frost

A wonderfully accessible guide to the transcendent poetry of one of America's favorite poets Widely revered during his lifetime, Robert Frost continues to enchant readers today, nearly a century after the publication of his first volume of poems, A Boy's Will. This book presents a splendid selection of sixty-five poems from across Frost's writing career, beginning in the 1890s and ending with "Directive" from the 1940s. Tim Kendall offers a detailed account of each poem, enabling readers to follow the journey which Frost himself recognized in all great poetry: "It begins in delight and ends in wisdom." In addition to close readings of the poems, The Art of Robert Frost traces the development of Frost's writing career and relevant aspects of his life. The book also assesses the particular nature of the poet's style, how it changes over time, and how it relates to the works of contemporary poets and movements, including Modernism. The first book on Frost to combine selected poems with a critical study, this appealing volume will be welcome on the shelves of scholars, students, and all other readers who love fine poetry.

Robert Frost's Poetry