About
Robert Lee Frost, born March 26, 1874 in San Francisco and died January 29, 1963 in Boston, is one of the most celebrated American poets of the 20th century. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry four times and served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1958-1959), a position later renamed U.S. Poet Laureate. He read his poem 'The Gift Outright' at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy in 1961. His poems, such as 'The Road Not Taken' and 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening', are renowned for their mastery of American colloquial speech and depictions of rural New England life, blending apparent simplicity with philosophical depth.
Major works
- A Boy's Will (1913)poetry collection
- North of Boston (1914)poetry collection
- New Hampshire (1923)poetry collection
- A Further Range (1936)poetry collection
- A Witness Tree (1942)poetry collection
Key milestones
- 1924Won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for 'New Hampshire'.
- 1961Read his poem 'The Gift Outright' at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.
- 1962Awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Themes
Rural New England lifeNature and seasonsChoices and consequencesSolitude and isolationAmerican colloquial speech
Sources: loc.gov · poetryfoundation.org