Making Sense of Life – August 17, 2003
While many poets have looked to the imagination for answers—creating myths and dreams, that teach the truth, Robert Frost observed his New England farm a little more closely. Making sense of our lives, he believed, takes examination of the language around us—the way we see apples or snow-covered trees, a field of flowers or a steeple above the autumn horizon.
His was not an easy, pastoral life as we imagine; but one of labor, struggle, and hardship. He was constantly beset by financial problems and poor health. His first son died at age three, then a daughter died after giving birth to her first child. His wife passed away next, and Robert suffered a deep depression. In his poetry, he tried to make sense of his world, to bring some order to it. In his own words he described his poems as “a momentary stay against confusion.” And even then, his searchings and writings were not always well-received. He struggled to make himself understood, but was too often misunderstood.
Bearing the tragedy of losing loved ones, he still continued to write and move about as a teacher and a gentleman farmer, restless in his quest for understanding: “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, / But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep, / And miles to go before I sleep.”
He was honored by institutions and universities, and he charmed intimate audiences with his readings. Still an essayist described him as the “saddest of poets.” We search for meaning with him as we hear his words: “God once spoke to people by name. / The sun once imparted its flame. / One impulse persists as our breath; / The other persists as our faith.” Perhaps through the tragedies of his life, he remembered the words of his wife after the death of their first child. She reminded him that although life could be difficult and evil, they had to go on because they had a 14-month-old daughter to care for.
In his later years, Robert Frost became the most celebrated poet in America. He died at age 86. President John F. Kennedy praised the great American poet at the dedication of the
Robert Frost Library in Amherst, Massachusetts, paying tribute to the poetry—to “its tide that lifts all spirits.” The poet had endured. He lived an honest life and he gave us language to chart our course by.
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Robert Frost are the words he penned himself: “So when at times the mob is swayed / To carry praise or blame to far / We may choose something like a star / To stay our minds on and be staid.”
Program #3861