Robert Frost

Introduction & Top Questions
Early life
College, marriage, and children
Move to London and publication of A Boy’s Will
North of Boston and fame at last
Move to Franconia, teaching career, and Pulitzer Prizes
Later career
Works: Forms and technique
Legacy

Quotes References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images, Videos & Interactives

The video thumbnail image shows a black and white image of Robert Frost against a sepia-toned background.

At a Glance

Robert Frost summary

Quizzes

Illustration of "The Lamb" from "Songs of Innocence" by William Blake, 1879. poem; poetry

A Study of Poetry

4:043 Dickinson, Emily: A Life of Letters, This is my letter to the world/That never wrote to me; I'll tell you how the Sun Rose/A Ribbon at a time; Hope is the thing with feathers/That perches in the soul

Famous Poets and Poetic Form

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) only confirmed photograph of Emily Dickinson. 1978 scan of a Daguerreotype. ca. 1847; in the Amherst College Archives. American poet. See Notes:

Poetry: First Lines

Related Questions

How did Amy Lowell help introduce Robert Frost’s poetry to American readers?
How did Robert Frost combine meter with conversational speech?
How did Robert Frost use everyday American speech in his poems?
How did the death of Robert Frost’s father affect his family?
How does grief affect Amy in Robert Frost’s “Home Burial”?
How is “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” structured?
How long did Robert Frost study at Harvard University?
What conflict is shown in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall”?
What does Robert Frost mean by describing poetry as a “momentary stay against confusion”?
What does the phrase “Good fences make good neighbors” mean in “Mending Wall”?
What is the rhyme scheme of Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”?
What tragic event occurs in Robert Frost’s poem “‘Out, Out—’”?
What was Robert Frost’s first professionally published poem?
When and where did Robert Frost die?
When and where was Robert Frost born?
When did Elinor Frost die?
When did Robert Frost marry Elinor White?
When was “My Butterfly: An Elegy” published?
When was Robert Frost’s collection “North of Boston” published?
Where did Robert Frost attend high school?
Which Robert Frost poetry collection included “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”?
Which colleges did Robert Frost attend?
Which famous Robert Frost poems first appeared in “North of Boston”?
Which four poetry collections won Robert Frost Pulitzer Prizes?
Which literary journal published Robert Frost’s poem “My Butterfly: An Elegy”?
Which poem did Robert Frost recite at John F. Kennedy’s 1961 presidential inauguration?
Which poems from “A Boy’s Will” became widely anthologized?
Who shared valedictorian honors with Robert Frost in high school?
Why did Robert Frost leave Dartmouth College?
Why did Robert Frost move from San Francisco to Lawrence, Massachusetts, as a child?
Why did Robert Frost prefer traditional verse forms to free verse?
Why do critics consider Robert Frost’s rural images to have broader symbolic meanings?
Why has “The Road Not Taken” had disputed interpretations?
Why is Robert Frost considered a modern poet despite using traditional forms?
What is the famous line from “The Road Not Taken”?
What is Robert Frost known for?
Who was Gwendolyn Brooks?
How did Gwendolyn Brooks’s work change after attending a conference at Fisk University in 1967?
Why is Sylvia Plath important?
When was Sylvia Plath married?

Literature Poetry Poets A-K

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External Websites

Official Site of Robert Frost
University of Michigan Library - Finding Aids - Robert Frost Family Collection, 1923-1988
Humanities LibreTexts - Robert Frost (1874 - 1963)
American National Biography - Robert Frost
Poets.org - Biography of Robert Frost
The Poetry Archive - Biography of Robert Frost
Annenberg Learner - Robert Frost
Poetry Foundation - Biography of Robert Frost

Britannica Websites

Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

Robert Frost - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
Robert Frost - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Robert Frost

American poet

Also known as: Robert Lee Frost

Written by

Philip L. Gerber

Professor of English, State University of New York College of Brockport. Author of Robert Frost and many others.

Philip L. Gerber

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 8, 2026 •History

Robert Frost (born March 26, 1874, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died January 29, 1963, Boston, Massachusetts) was an American poet who was much admired for his depictions of the rural life of New England, his command of American colloquial speech, and his realistic verse portraying ordinary people in everyday situations. He was the most highly honored American poet of the 20th century, receiving the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times. Several of his poems yielded lines...

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