Robert FrostAre you a reader of poetry or do you find it difficult to understand? Unlike short stories or novels, poems are short and to the point, just enough to hold your attention. All poems are different with different meanings and different images. A famous poet is Robert Frost who seems to enjoy capturing more natural environments. He was born in 1874 in San Francisco, but later moved to Massachusetts, where after high school he married Elinor White. His first book A Boys Will was published in 1913 and his second; North of Boston, was published in 1914. Frost received numerous awards including 4 Pulitzer Prizes, honorary degrees, and the Bollingen Poetry Prize. Although he was a very successful poet, things seemed to deteriorate rapidly after the deaths of his wife, three of his children and his sister. It is said that he later "struggled with the decline of his poetic powers" (DiYanni, 668). Readers can see the depression, bitterness, and loneliness of Frost's life in his poems. He died in 1963 at the age of 87. Frost uses nature imagery and symbolism to convey the deeper meaning of his poetry. The natural settings in Frost's poem bring it to life and draw the reader into a more everyday style. His writing technique and descriptiveness make his poetry so intriguing. Some of the ways Frost describes these natural environments make you want to look at the world around you differently, in a more beautiful sense. When reading Frost's poems, his visual settings are always seasonal and you could almost see the sensoriality that surrounds him. His poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a perfect example of a winter setting. The title itself allows you to start imagining a dim, white, evening setting. The descriptiveness of this poem is easily imaginable to those who could understand it. As you read it you can simply immerse yourself in its world through the choice of descriptive words with a touch of natural setting. You can imagine him on the horse, in front of a small house, in the middle of the gloomy forest, with the beautiful white snow all around giving the poem a heavy, but peaceful feeling. “The Tuft of Flowers” is another poem with a beautiful visual image, although it is different because it seems to be set in a happier time, like spring..
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