Robert Frost

1874-1963

'I had a lover's quarrel with the world'

Robert Frost is buried in Old Bennington Cemetery (behind the Old First Congregational Church), Vermont, USA. (See map...ref no. 17)

Frost gave his last poetry reading in Boston in December 1962. On the following day he underwent surgery but suffered a heart attack which led to his death on January 29th 1963.

He is buried next to his wife and son in a plot which he had purchased in 1940. (He had previously lived at Shaftsbury near to Bennington.)

Between 1912 and 1915 Frost lived in England with his wife and family and met many of the Georgian Poets. He formed a particularly close relationship with Edward Thomas and was influential in encouraging Thomas to start writing poetry.

Grave of Robert Frost

Gravesite

Between the wars, Frost suffered a series of personal tragedies. In 1934 his youngest child died - then four years later his wife died of a heart attack. In 1940 his son committed suicide and then his daughter and his sister developed mental health problems. His last major collection of poetry The Witness Tree contained a number of darker poems which reflected these tragedies.

Much of Frost's poetry is based on the contemplation of simple subjects - often connected with farm life. These contemplations were strongly influenced by his childhood experiences of farm life in New England and by his later ownership of farms in New Hampshire.

Frost was the winner of four Pulitzer prizes for literature and was U.S. Poet Laureate from 1958-1959.