ROBERT FROST (1874 - 1963)

A selective list of open access literary criticism, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars, articles published in reviewed sources, and web sites that adhere to the MLA Guidelines for Authors of Web Pages

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Literary Criticism

Barron, Jonathan N. A substantial introduction to Robert Frost from the Literary Encyclopedia, 12/13/04

Bidney, Martin. "The secretive-playful epiphanies of Robert Frost: Solitude, companionship, and the ambivalent imagination." Papers on Language and Literature, 7/1/02

Brower, Reuben. On "After Apple-Picking," excerpts from essays on "After Apple-Picking" by eight important critics, including Dr. Brower. At the Modern American Poetry site (Univ. of Ill.)

Burr, Zofia. On similarities and differences in the reception of Maya Angelou's poetry and Robert Frost's. From a talk at the Conference on Contemporary Poetry, Rutgers, 1997 (removed)

Garnett, Edward. A 1915 article in The Atlantic Monthly on Robert Frost by Edward Garnett, hailing Frost as "A New American Poet." (removed)

Glenn, Karen. "Robert Frost in the Petri Dish." On Frost's interest in science. At the Poetry Foundation

Hammer, Langdon. "In this second lecture on the poetry of Robert Frost, the poet's use of iambic pentameter in 'Birches' is discussed. Frost's anti-modernity is evidenced in his interest in rural New England culture and his concern with the lives of laborers in 'Home Burial.' The failure of humanity to work real change is sardonically depicted in 'Provide, Provide,' but a hopeful vision of the power of imagination is presented in the final lines of the late poem, 'Directive.'" Yale Univ., English 310, Spring 2007, Open Courseware, transcript, 1/24/07. For the audio or video version

Jarrell, Randall. On "Home Burial." Commentary from seven important critics and poets, including Jarrell, on Frost's "Home Burial." Modern American Poetry site (Univ. of Ill.)

Liebman, Sheldon W. "Robert Frost, romantic - poet." On whether, and in what sense, Frost was a romantic. In Twentieth Century Literature, 12/22/96

Link, Eric Carl. "Nature's extra-vagrants: Frost and Thoreau in the Maine woods." Papers on Language and Literature, Spring 1997

Sedgwick, Ellery. Article on how Ellery Sedgwick, the editor of The Atlantic Monthly, rejected Frost's early poems. In The Atlantic Monthly. (removed)

Senst, Angela M. "Regional and National Identities in Robert Frost's and T.S. Eliot's Criticism," in CLCWeb, l 3.2 (2001)

Stambuk, Andrew. "Learning to Hover: Robert Frost, Robert Francis, and the Poetry of Detached Engagement." In Twentieth Century Literature, 12/22/99

Van Doren, Mark. "Robert Frost's America," an article from the 1951 Atlantic Monthly (removed)

Zubizarreta, John. "Octavio Paz and Robert Frost: El polvo y la nieve que se deshacen entre las manos." Comparative Literature, Summer 1995

Introductory, overview

Excerpts of influential critical commentaries for the following poems: Mending Wall, Home Burial, After Apple-Picking, The Wood-Pile, The Road Not Taken, Birches, The Oven Bird, An Old Man's Winter Night, The Hill Wife, Fire and Ice, Good-By and Keep Cold, The Need of Being Versed in Country Things, Design, The Witch of Coos, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, Acquainted With the Night, Gathering Leaves, In a Disused Graveyeard, Nothing Gold Can Stay, Desert Places, Two Tramps in Mud Time, Neither Our Far Nor In Deep, Never Again Would Birds' Song Be the Same, The Gift Outright, Provide, Provide. From Modern American Poetry Site (Univ. of Illinois)

Short biographies of Robert Frost by William H. Pritchard and Stanley Burnshaw, and a bibliography. From Modern American Poetry Site (Univ. of Illinois)

On Robert Pinsky's "America's Favorite Poem" Project, which determined that Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is the best loved poem in the U.S.

An short biographical introduction to Robert Frost from Gale Publishing

A narrative account of visiting the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, N.H., from the Literary Traveler web site

Very brief introduction to Robert Frost from the Academy of American Poets, with links to some of his best known poems: Birches; Design; Home Burial; Mending Wall; The Road Not Taken; To Earthward

(removed) A transcript of John Hollander's 1997 lecture for The Academy of American Poets, "A Close Look at Robert Frost," which focuses on "The Oven Bird"

Web sites and bibliography

Robert Frost reading After Apple-Picking

A description of the Robert Frost documents in the the Jones Library Collection in Amherst, Mass

Publication dates for Robert Frost's works, from the Modern American Poetry Site (Univ. of Illinois)

An account of Robert Frost's sojourns in Texas. From the web site Literary San Antonio by Paul McQuien and Kim G. Hochmeister, at San Antonio College

main page | 20th century poetry | 20th century authors | 19th century authors | about LiteraryHistory

1998-2008 by Donna Jan Pridmore