“A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.”
—Robert Frost
To many in America, Robert Frost is the grandfatherly originator of “The Road Not Taken,” and a few other selected quotations printed on motivational posters. He is relegated to the status of Mahatma Gandhi—a respected figure by reputation, but understood little beyond his selected quotations for popular consumption.
The real Robert Frost, though, is a much deeper and more serious poet than the mawkish inspirational use of his lines lets on. Not only was Frost a master of poetic craft in general and formal verse in particular, but his poetry sprung from a very profound and developed philosophical consideration of the nature of poetry. Indeed, Frost was one of the only true classical poets in twentieth-century America. This essay seeks to shed light on that particular aspect of Frost to give him the credit he is due for maintaining classicism in poetry during one of its darkest epochs.
I. Life
Robert Lee Frost was born on March 26…
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