On the verge of National Poetry Month we at Landmark Books would like to wish a happy birthday to Robert Frost, the Poet Laureate of Vermont. Frost was born on this day in 1874 in San Francisco, California, but his writing would focus on New England and rural life. His poems would earn him four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and in 1960 Frost would be honored with a Congressional Gold Medal.
Robert Frost published his first poem, “My Butterfly: An Elegy” on November 8th, 1894 in the New York Independent. He was paid $15 for the poem. He attended Dartmouth College, St Lawrence University and Harvard University. Frost began teaching in 1906, a career which landed him in several universities over his life including a stop at the University of Michigan. His time at Middlebury College is probably his most well known, where he would teach at the Bread Loaf School.
Frost would publish 29 books of poetry and prose as well as 4 plays. His poetry is considered part of the ‘modernist’ movement, but it reads more like traditional verse. His work is still the subject of studies and there are museums and groups dedicated to his poetical works. Frost passed away in January, 1963 at the age of 88. His influence on American poetics still casts a large shadow and is canon in almost every high school English program. I would be shocked if you have not heard at least parts of poems by Frost, but stop by and see the selection of books we have on hand at Landmark Books today. Here is a short list of books to check out:
In the Clearing (Holt Rinehart & Winston, 1962) Hard Not to Be King (House of Books, 1951)
Steeple Bush (Henry Holt and Company, 1947)
Masque of Reason (Henry Holt and Company, 1945)
Come In, and Other Poems (Henry Holt and Company, 1943)
A Witness Tree (Henry Holt and Company, 1942)
A Further Range (Henry Holt and Company, 1936)
From Snow to Snow (Henry Holt and Company, 1936)
The Lone Striker (Knopf, 1933)
The Lovely Shall Be Choosers (Random House, 1929)
West-Running Brook (Henry Holt and Company, 1928)
New Hampshire (Henry Holt and Company, 1923)
Mountain Interval (Henry Holt and Company, 1916)
North of Boston (Henry Holt and Company, 1914)
A Boy’s Will (Henry Holt and Company, 1913)