“New Hampshire” By Robert Frost

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Robert Frost’s “New Hampshire” is not only is one of his longest poems but it also shows many different ideas that Frost may have had during his time in New Hampshire. The ideas presented in this poem range from poem styles to differences between states, advantages of being in New Hampshire, and even glimpses into the life of Robert Frost.

The differences between the states Frost describes is obvious in this poem. Frost “[switches] back and forth between people the speaker has met and the conclusions he has drawn about them,” (Fagan) and each of people are described as being from a different state, representing that state. Frost first describes meeting “a lady from the South who said/…/‘None of my family ever worked, or had/A thing to sell,’” (Frost). Frost later goes on to describe how he feels about her lifestyle. Feeling that “[people] may work…” if they have the means or the will, he says “…having anything to sell is what/Is the disgrace in man or state or nation?” (Frost). He then meets “a traveler from Arkansas/Who boasted of his state as beautiful/For diamonds and apples,” Frost’s remark, “‘I see the porter's made your bed,’” shows that he believes that Arkansas must be galvanized state and that this traveler must be wealthy, part of the upper class of Arkansas. Next, Frost meets “a Californian who would/Talk California—a state so blessed,/He said, in climate, none bad ever died there/A natural death, and Vigilance Committees /Had had to organize to stock the graveyards/And vindicate the state's humanity,” by this, the Californian means that normally all bad people were executed and buried to protect the state’s humanity. Frost murmurs “‘Just the way Stefansson runs on,’…” referring to how Stefansson was forced...

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...en revealing glimpses from his life. “New Hampshire” is the product of Robert Frost’s longings to take on the “‘plain New Hampshire farmer’ persona,” even though he is actually educated as a city writer, (Fagan).

Works Cited

Frost, Robert. New Hampshire. American Poems. Gunnar Bengtsson, 20 Feb. 2003.

Web. 8 Apr. 2012.
768>. Copyright © 2000-2012

Fagan, Deirdre. "'New Hampshire'." Critical Companion to Robert Frost: A Literary Reference to

His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's

Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin=

CCRF224&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 8, 2012).

Meyers, Jeffrey. Robert Frost: A Biography. Apr 10, 1996 . N.p.: Houghton

Mifflin, 1996. Print.

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