Robert Frost 

Early Years

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, America, to a journalist William Prescott Frost jr., and Isabelle Moodie. Frost's father was a teacher and later an editor of the "San Francisco Examiner". After his father's death in 1885, he moved with his family to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where clause he graduated from Lawrence High School in 1892. Despite his later association with rural life, Frost grew up in the city, and published his first poem in his high school's magazine. Hereafter he attended enrolled himself at the Dartmouth College where clause he attended long enough to be accepted to a fraternity.  

Frost returned home  and  drifted through a string of occupations after leaving school; working as a teacher to his mom's class of unruly boys, delivering newspapers, factory work, working as an editor for "Lawrence Sentinel". He did not enjoy these jobs at all and felt that his true calling as a poet. From there, he enrolled himself into Harvard University in Boston but so as now there hasn't been a record of him ever earning a formal college degree.

 

 

Adult years

In 1894, Robert Frost sold his first poem "My Butterfly: An elegy" (published in the November 8, 1894 edition of New York Times independent) for 15 dollars. Proud of his success he proposed marriage to Elinor Miriam White, but she demurred, wanting to finish her college education (at St. Lawrence University) before they married. Frost then went on an excursion (to the the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia), and upon his arrival he asked Elinor again for her hand in marriage. Having graduated she agreed, and they were married at the Harvard University, where he attended liberal arts studies for two years. Frost did well here, but soon afterwards left to support his growing family. 

Frost and his wife Elinor had six children from which two were boys and four were girls. Both of their sons died before fully maturing, one died from Cholera (Elliott, 1896-1904) and the other son committed suicide Carol; 1902-1940). In addition to this, two of their daughters died as the result of puerperal fever after childbirth (Irma; 1903-1967 and Marjorie; 1905-1934) and the other died just three days after her birth (Elinor Bettina, 1907). Only Lesley (1899-1983) and Irma outlived their father. Frost's wife who had heart problems Throughout her life, developed breast cancer and died of heart failure shortly after.

Through the extremely unfortunate circumstances in-which many of his family members had died, he still continued to  perceive his dreams. He purchased a farm for young people in Derry, New Hampshire and worked on the farm for nine years where he produced many poems, that would later become famous. Ultimately, his farming proved unsuccessful and he returned to education as an English teacher, at Pinkerton Academy from 1906 to 1911. 

In 1912, Robert Frost sailed with his family to Great Britain, living first in Glasgow before settling in Beaconsfield outside London. He wrote his first book about poetry, "A Boy's Will", which was published the next year. While in England he made some important acquaintances with "Edward Thomas (a member of the group known as the Dymock Poets), TE Hulme, and Ezra Pound." Ezra Pound was the first American to write a (favorable) review of Frost's work. Surrounded by his peers, Frost wrote some of his best work while in England.

 

As World War 1 began, Robert Frost returned to America in 1915. He bought a farm in Franconia, New Hampshire where he launched his new career of writing, teaching and lecturing. Hereafter for forty two years (from 1921 to 1963) he taught at many different schools; English at Amherst College; Massachusetts, Bread Loaf School of English Of Middlebury College and lastly at the University of Michigan.

 

After teaching at UOM (University Of Michigan) Frost returned to Amherst where he bought 5-acre of land in South Miami, Florida and he named it pencil pines. This is where he spent all of his winters for the rest of his life.

 

Robert Frost's was 86 when he spoke and performed a reading of his poetry "at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy" on January 20, 1961. Then unfortunately around two years later, on January 29, 1963, he died, in Boston. He died of complications from prostate surgery. He was buried at the Old Bennington Cemetery in Bennington, Vermont. His epitaph reads, "I had a lover's quarrel with the world".