The Poetry of Robert Frost

Robert Frost ( ) Robert Frost was the most popular American poet of the twentieth century. Most Americans recognize his name, the titles of and lines from his best-known poems, and even his face and the sound of his voice.

Robert Frost ( ) Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize 4x Poet of nature and normal people Topics: core beliefs and common anxieties –Belief in self, love, art, country, God –Anxiety about mortality, industry, survival, dissolution of marriage

Tragedy and Depression His wife died in 1938 and he lost four of his children. Two of his daughters suffered mental breakdowns, and his son Carol, a frustrated poet and farmer, committed suicide. Frost also suffered from depression and the continual self-doubt led him to cling to the desire to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.

Themes and Depiction of Rural Life the cycle of the seasons the alternation of night and day natural phenomenon rural images

Blank Verse Unrhymed lines all in the same meter (usually iambic penta meter) Iamb = two syllables, unstressed/stressed: toDAY, uNITE, proVIDE Trochee = two syllables, stressed/unstressed: GARden, HIGHway

Aspects of Frost's poetry: using contraries and contradictions using common, everyday speech poems set in nature deep meanings exist beneath a simple exterior

A Modern Poet uses ordinary speech within formal patterns of line and stanza uses traditional forms and structures while exploring modern themes of alienation and isolation Frost believed that the poet's response to modern life was to revert back to traditional forms which provided a sense of order

Activity Read Frost’s biography. Folder pass activity: using what you learned from Frost’s biography, answer the question you receive and place it into the folder. Pass the folders when instructed. Group poetry activity

Group roles: 1/2 Reader : Must clearly read the entire poem, paying close attention to punctuation and the pace of the reading. Interpreter: What is the meaning of the poem? Use examples directly from the text to support your answer. Stylist : Identifies poetic devices and the use of figurative language. Illustrator: Aids in understanding of poem – an image depicting content and meaning

Group roles: 5/6 Interpreter : Must clearly read the entire poem to the class, paying close attention to punctuation and the pace of the reading. Interpreter must also determine the “meaning” of the poem through analysis. In order to support your analysis, you must use examples directly from the text. Stylist : Identifies poetic devices and figurative language(symbol, metaphor, allusion, personification, simile, imagery, onomatopoeia). They must also create an illustration that aids in the understanding of the poem – it should depict both the content (what is physically written) and the meaning ).

Frost Quotations “The best way out is always through.”