May's Featured PoetRobert Frost (1874-1963) was born in San Francisco and lived there until 11, moving east to Massachusetts and then New Hampshire, the state where his father was born. He carefully cultivated his image as a farmer. A canny marketer, he got his first book published and reviewed in England, and afterward in the U.S., making him an instant poet on two continents. His personal life was dark (he sacrificed all relationships to his career) as are many of his poems, though these are not widely read. Here’s one:
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
Further Reading: Frost, Robert, Collected Poems of Robert Frost, 1874‑1963 (1986) and seven other volumes in our library.
Coming in June: William Carlos Williams
Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson
