In November of 1894, Frost published his first poem "My Butterfly: An Elegy" in The Independent (Armenti). This was the start of Frost's long career as a writer. Though he never aligned himself with a particular movement, Frost became a writer within the Modernism movement, as well as Literary Realism, and Naturalism.
1860s-1940s
From the 1860s to the 1940s, Literary Realism, Naturalism and Modernism were the prominent movements in literature. Frost's poems lean into Modernism, with New England themes playing a heavy role in his work.
Realism
Realism is a form of literature that looks towards the ordinary and mundane. It is a complete switch from the Romantic era that ended right before Realism took hold. Realism rejects idolization and instead focusses on the common man. This form is seen through numerous poems by Robert Frost, such as "The Tuft of Flowers" (1915), "Mending Wall" (1914), and "The Death of the Hired Man" (1914). The realism movement started around 1840 in France and ended in the early 1900s.
Modernism
Modernism took place at the end of the 1800s and reached its peak during World War I. With the Industrial Revolution came talk of new political, philosophical, scientific, and ideological shifts in society. This helped to birth the modernism movement. Many writers within the Modernist Movement became skeptical of language and went with more straight-forward approaches to their writing. Frost uses modernistic themes in his poems such as "The Road Not Taken" (1915)
Naturalism
Naturalism is a combination of philosophy and scientific observation. Works that include Naturalism observe humans through their relationships to their surroundings. This genre of writing comes down to the effort of understanding humans and the way they react to situations. It is also a way of depicting things how they are rather than in a dramatic sense. Frost has many works depicting naturalism, such as "Mending Wall" (1914) and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1922).
1940s-1960s
After the end of World War II, Contemporary writing and Postmodernism Literature took hold in America.
Contemporary Writing
The Contemporary Period started around 1945 and continues today. Contemporary writing reflects a lot of modern politics, social, and modern issues society faces today. Many of Frost's poems are considered contemporary for his portrayals between man and nature. His narrative poetry reflects that of contemporary writing and has helped influence many contemporary writers today. Frost showcases contemporary writing through his poem "The Gift Outright" (1942).
Postmodernism
Postmodernism is a movement led by philosophy and literary theory that brings up questions in theories brought up during the modern period. Though this was a movement towards the end of his life, Frost did not have many ties to the Postmodern movement.
Examples
Realism in Frost's Writing
"Mending Wall" by Robert Frost is a poem that represents the conflict of mending the fence between two neighbors. The poem explores differing opinions of the young generation and the old generation. Both arguments have a realistic view of what to do about the fence that separates them. Through two opposing mentalities, the poem can also be used to symbolize differing opinions regarding internationalism and the relations of countries across the globe.
Mending Wall by Robert Frost
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun;
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
‘Stay where you are until our backs are turned!’
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
‘Why do they make good neighbors? Isn’t it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.’ I could say ‘Elves’ to him,
But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father’s saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, ‘Good fences make good neighbors.’
Modernism in Frost's Writing
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is one of his most famous works. The poem represents a man being left with a decision of which road to take. With the simplistic language and traditional structure, Frost uses modernist elements to complete the poem.
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Naturalism in Frost's Writing
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost showcases many elements considered naturalistic. The poem depicts nature as it is rather than adding flourishes that make the scene extraordinary.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
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.
Contemporary Writing in Frost's Work
"The Gift Outright" by Robert Frost showcases the rise of the contemporary period in America. It is a poem that showcases the connection between Americans and their land. The poem was written in 1942, and it showcases Frost's patriotism during World War II.
The Gift Outright by Robert Frost
The land was ours before we were the land’s.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England’s, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were we gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.