Emma Dao
Mrs. Raymond
English 1-1A
4 March 2013
Robert Frost’s Wonderful Life Despite all of his self-doubt and insecurity, Robert Frost still succeeded as one of the world’s most well-known poets. Robert Frost’s early life proved to be a rollercoaster of emotions, but that quickly changed once he got settled down, got married, and started his own family. By the time he began his family, his career soon accelerated, causing him to become a worldwide famous writer. Considered one of his greatest works, “The Gift Outright”, which many think explained what Frost thought of society.
Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1876. “His early life was as tumultuous and unstable as the relationship between his parents, causing him to seek stability in his adult life, which he found in his relationship with his wife Elinor Miriam and his children.” (Fagan 1) As a child his parents fought often, which affected his life, causing him depression and insecurity. Later on he found comfort in his wife Elinor Miriam and his children. His parents are William Prescott Frost Jr. and Isabelle (Belle). His father had an irrational temper which caused strains on his relationship with his family, causing Belle to take Robert and his sister, Jeanie Florence, away. Frost’s younger sister is Jeanie Florence, born on November 6, 1960. His mother, Belle influenced Frost greatly. As a child, his mother read him fictional poems that later he used those ideas for his own works. His mother homeschooled all of her kids, Frost included, because he had anxiety attacks. He could not go to school, and he soon withdrew. Later on Frost told his friend, Louis, he “played sick to get out of going to school”. In 1888, when he actually liked school, in Salem, Massachusetts, he passed entrance examinations and entered Lawrence High School at the head of his class. In all of the other schools Frost attended to throughout his teenage and young adult years he almost always stayed at the top of his class. Frost’s mother also read him Mother Goose often when he was a child. His love for the book gave him creative inspiration for his poetry which he wrote later on in life. “Frost’s childhood was not idyllic, but Frost’s love of Mother Goose, of his family, and of nature, baseball, and language would set the stage for his character and his poetry. He inherited his father’s competitive and passionate personality, but other than a few early bouts of masculinity and toughness, he managed to keep himself at least somewhat subdued once he created and settled his own family.” (Fagan 7) Frost’s childhood influenced a lot of his writing as an adult. Frost met his wife, Elinor, at a school, where they first fought to be top of the class. Fighting soon changed into romance, and the duo quickly fell in love and married on December 19, 1895. Being with Elinor cured Frost’s unpleasant, inherited traits Frost received from his father. She matured him, and her presence encouraged and helped him with his works. The couple had six children, and one of the six, ended up normal and old enough to conceive Frost’s only grandchild.
“In “Remarks on Receiving the Gold Medal” Frost expresses that the “sensible and healthy live somewhere between self-approval and the approval of society. They make their adjustment without too much talk of compromise. In many ways, he was speaking of himself. He was insecure until the end, always a bit surprised by the awards and prizes heaped on him, but he did well to strike a balance between public recognition and private satisfaction.” (Fagan 16). He received his awards with shock, but he hid behind his poems. Being born a natural public speaker, Frost captivated audiences throughout his speeches or lectures. Frost made friends with Edward Thomas, who many call his close, best friend. They exhibited similar personalities and writing habits. They help each other grow into better writers and shared many beliefs in writing poetry. Robert Frost was a respected man