According to poet Robert Frost, a good poem “begins in delight, and ends in

wisdom.” Frost is one of the most popular

American poets of the twentieth century.

He used both traditional and modern forms in his poems, which perhaps
accounts for the wide appeal of his writing. Throughout more than fifty years
of outstanding achievements, Frost received numerous awards and honors,
including four Pulitzer Prizes for Literature.

A Rich Heritage Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, where his father
was establishing a career in journalism. When Frost was eleven years old,
his father died, and his mother moved the family back to New England,
where Frost would spend much of his adult life. From his boyhood until his
later years, Frost enjoyed long walks in the woods, a practice that fed his
curiosity about the natural world. Not surprisingly, references to nature and
New England settings and speech patterns abound in Frost’s poetry.
 “[T]he ear does it. The ear is the only
true writer and the only true reader.”
—Robert Frost

Frost began writing poetry while in high school, a passion he shared with his co-
valedictorian and future wife, Elinor Miriam White. After spending a year at
college and marrying Elinor, Frost went to work as a teacher. He also worked
as a factory laborer, a newspaper editor, and a lecturer at Amherst College and
several other universities throughout his life.

A New England Poet In 1900 Frost and his family moved to a farm in Derry, New
Hampshire. While Frost was ultimately unsuccessful as a farmer, he did write
many of the poems during those years that would make up his first books. A
Boy’s Will (1913) and North of Boston (1914) were published by a London
publishing house while Frost and his family were living in England. While in
England, Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken,” which would appear as the first
selection in his third book of poems, Mountain Interval (1916).
Frost’s first three books of poetry were well received by both critics
and the public. His fourth book, New Hampshire, won a Pulitzer
Prize in 1924. As a successful poet, Frost spent much of his time
reading his poems to audiences around the country. He developed
the speaking style, appearance, and mannerisms associated with
New England, which made him even more appealing to the public.

Frost’s middle years were plagued by tragedy. Between 1934 and

1940, he lost his daughter Marjorie; his wife, Elinor; and his son
Carol. In 1942 he published a book of poems titled
A Witness Tree, which explored the themes ofloss and sorrow.

Robert Frost was born in 1874 and died in 1963.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
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.