Happy Birthday Robert Frost

On this day, in 1874, Robert Frost was born in San Francisco. Most of his years would be lived out in his beloved New England where so much of his poetry is situated.

Not until he was in his 40s did Frost earn acclaim. Since his time, America has had poet laureates, poets in residents at our most important universities, and typically invited a poet to present at presidential inaugurations and other public events; but Frost was, arguably, the last truly national poet. His collections were bestsellers; his poems appeared regularly in popular, not just scholarly, periodicals; they were recited as a matter of common practice across our society.

Among his most iconic works are "A Road Not Taken," "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," "Mending Wall," and "Out, Out."

Frost died in 1963. There is a real sense in which poetry's prominence in American culture waned dramatically since then. On this day, his birthday, it is good to remember Robert Frost and to rekindle our love for poetry.