The Darker Side Of Robert Frost

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Recommended: Analyzing Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

“Some say the world will end in fire,/ Some say in ice./ From what I’ve tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire./ But if it had to perish twice,/ I think I know enough of hate/ To say that for destruction ice/ Is also great/ And would suffice.” This poem by Robert Frost is an excellent example of how even though people tend to think that Frost’s poems are just fun easy to read poems, a lot of them actually have dark themes to them. The poem “Fire and Ice” quoted above is a poem all about death and his prefered way to die/ destroy the world. So, although the average reader will quote Robert Frost as being a poet of positivity, yet many of his poems actually point out the dark side of human existence.
Robert Frost’s story starts on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. Frost was born to father William Prescott and mother Isabelle Moodie; he also had a younger sister Jeanie. When Robert Frost was 11 years old, his father died of tuberculosis. Shortly after, Frost and his mother and sister, then 2 years old, moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. In high school he became interested in reading and writing poetry. He enrolled in Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. He also enrolled in Harvard, but he never earned a formal college degree. After college, he had many jobs including being a teacher, cobbler, and editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. His first poem, ‘My Butterfly’ was published in the New York Newspaper, The Independent, in November 8, 1894. In 1895, he married his wife Miriam White and she was a major inspiration for his poetry. Then in 1912, they moved to England; it was here he met many contemporary British poets who influenced his writing. He befriended Ezra Pound who helped him promote and publish Frost...

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...ard, William . "Frost's Life and Career--by William H. Pritchard and Stanley Burnshaw." Frost's Life and Career--by William H. Pritchard and Stanley Burnshaw. Oxford University Press, 1 Jan. 1994. Web. 13 May 2014.

Pritchard, William . "On "The Road Not Taken"." On "The Road Not Taken". A Literary Life Reconsidered, n.d. Web. 13 May 2014. .
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"Robert Frost." Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 14 Apr 2014. .
“Robert Frost.” PoetryFoundation.org. Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute. Web. 25 Apr 2014.
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"Robert Frost." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, 1 Jan. 1963. Web. 13 May 2014. .

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