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- Beaconsfield
- Courtesy of Plymouth
State College Library
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- Frost's first
publicity photo C. 1913
- Courtesy Jones
Library, Amherst
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- Edward Thomas,
his friend
- who inspired
The Road Not Taken
- Courtesy of Myfanwy
Thomas
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- Back to Places
and Poetry
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- The Frosts rented this little
cottage, 20 miles north of London which was connected by train
to the city. Shortly after he arrived, he spread his poems out
on the living room floor and began arranging them into his first
book, which he called A Boy's Will. He found a small publisher
to print it - the infamous Mrs. Nutt who never paid him a penny
in royalties but disdained the American press for not recognizing
the talent of its own countryman. The little cottage where Frost
assembled his first book was torn down in 1993 to make room for
a new multi-family house.
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- In January of 1913, Frost attended
the opening of a new poetry bookshop in Kensington and made some
important acquaintances. The evening led to an introduction to
Ezra Pound, whose calling card read, "At home - sometimes."
Frost called on him and explained he had a book of poems about
to be published. With that, Pound insisted they obtain a proof
and he wrote one of the first reviews of the new book claiming
he had just discovered another Amur'kn. "Vurry Amur'k'n
with the seeds of grace." Other reviews followed and Mrs.
Nutt was soon asking for another book. Much to his surprise,
Frost's gamble was paying off. North of Boston was published
in early 1914 and got rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic.
Robert Frost was hailed as a "new" American poet. The
English loved him and the Americans were taking notice.
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| Frost
made many friends in England, including fellow poet Edward Thomas.
The Dymock poets nurtured and encouraged him and Frost might
have stayed there were it not for the breakout of World War I.
The war destabilized the writers and publishers all over England
and soon it was apparent the market was drying up for poets.
The Frosts moved several times during their final months and
Elinor did finally get her wish to live under thatch at a house
called "The Gallows." Robert told his family, "the
poems have gone home and I guess we should too." The whole
family was homesick for New England and they sailed for New York
in February, 1915. |
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- Frost's friends, Edward Thomas
joined the war and was killed in France in 1917.
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| Today,
The Dymock Poets Archive and Study Centre established by The
Friends of Dymock Poets and Cheltenham & Gloucester College,
promotes interest in the work of the Dymock poets. |
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