Robert Frost, known as one of the greatest poets of New England’s 20th
century, was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. He
was named after the Civil War Confederate army commander, Robert E.
Lee (www.encarta.msn.com). His mother was a school teacher, and his father was a
journalist and politician. Frost, at the age of eleven, lost his
father to tuberculosis, and his family moved to Lawrence,
Massachusetts, where his father wanted to be buried (www.encarta.msn.com). Here,
Frost graduated from high school and began writing poetry.  
In 1892, Frost enrolled at Dartmouth College, where he was a member
the fraternity, Theta Delta Chi (www.wikipedia.com). Frost left Dartmouth just
short of completing his first semester. In 1984 he sold and published
his first poem, My Butterfly, to the New York Independent for fifteen
dollars (www.wikipedia.com).  
Shortly after his publishing, he asked his long time friend and high
school co-valedictorian, Eleanor White, to marry him. She denied
Frost, saying that she wanted to finish school first, but Frost was
sure there was another man. After hearing this Frost took a trip to
the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia, but returned less than a year
later to ask Eleanor for her hand in marriage once again (www.wikipedia.com).
This time she accepted.
For two years beginning in 1897, Frost studied at Harvard University
but never received a degree (onlineliterature.com). He claims he went
home due to his health and the birth of his second child (www.wikipedia.com).
Upon his return home, Frost’s grandfather bought him a poultry farm in
Derry, New Hampshire, which Frost found unsuccessful. He instead
resorted to teaching at Pinkerton Academy to support his family.
In 1912, Frost and his family sailed to England where his first book
of poems, A Boy’s Will, was printed by the first English publisher he
approached. Frost published his second collection of poems, North of
Boston, in 1914 before returning to America with his family in 1915.
Back in the United States, Frost bought another farm in Franconia, New
Hampshire. While living here, he wrote, taught, and lectured as an
English professor at Amherst College. Hew also taught during the
summers at the Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury College in
Vermont (www.wikipedia.com).
In 1923, Frost won his first Pulitzer Prize for his book of poems
called New Hampshire, which consisted of many of his most famous works
such as ‘Paul’s Wife,’ ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay,’ and ‘Stopping by Woods
on a Snowy Evening.’  Frost won three more Pulitzer Prizes for
Collected Poems (1930), A Further Range (1936), and A Witness Tree
(1942).
Frost often wrote in blank verse with traditional metrical and
rhythmical schemes, as he did not like the free verse writing that was
popular during his time (www.encarta.msn.com). Frost’s writings became very
popular because they seemed to focus on ordinary subjects, but created
great emotions (www.encarta.msn.com). His poems often started with humor and ended
in a more tragic tone (www.encarta.msn.com). Frost once said, “A poem begins in
delight and ends in wisdom… it runs a course of lucky events, and ends
in a clarification of life.” (www.pcisys.net).
Later in his life, Frost suffered from depression, after losing his
wife and four of his six children. He fell in love again with his
secretary, Kay Morrison, and composed one of best known love poems for
her, A Witness Tree. He also recited his poem ‘The Gift Out Right’ at
John F. Kennedy’s presidential inauguration. Frost died on January 29,
1963 and was buried in Bennington, Vermont.
Robert Frost was an extraordinary man who accomplished many things in
his life, despite his depression and the many conflicts he encountered
throughout his life. In his later years, Frost reflected on his past
with this quote, “In three words I can sum up what I have learned
about life. It goes on.” (www.pcisys.net)