Robert Frost in Context

Forty essays from influential scholars and poets offer a fresh, multifaceted assessment of the life and works of Robert Frost.

Mark Richardson (Edited by)

9781107022881, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 14 April 2014

434 pages
23.6 x 15.8 x 2.7 cm, 0.71 kg

This new critical volume offers a fresh, multifaceted assessment of Robert Frost's life and works. Nearly every aspect of the poet's career is treated: his interest in poetics and style; his role as a public figure; his deep fascination with science, psychology, and education; his peculiar and difficult relation to religion; his investments, as thinker and writer, in politics and war; the way he dealt with problems of mental illness that beset his sister and two of his children; and, finally, the complex geo-political contexts that inform some of his best poetry. Contributors include a number of influential scholars of Frost, but also such distinguished poets as Paul Muldoon, Dana Gioia, Mark Scott, and Jay Parini. Essays eschew jargon and employ highly readable prose, offering scholars, students, and general readers of Frost a broadly accessible reference and guide.

Editor's preface Mark Richardson
Part I. Frost in Stylistic Contexts: 1. The fate of the Frost speaker Margery Sabin
2. The figure Frost's prose makes Joseph M. Thomas and Mark Richardson
3. Frost and sports: pitching into poetry Alec Marsh
4. Frost as a man of letters Robert Faggen
Part II. Literary Historical Contexts: 5. Robert Frost's design Paul Muldoon
6. The lay of the land in Frost's Steeple Bush Jay Parini
7. Frost and the modern narrative poem Dana Gioia
8. Frost and modernism John Cooper
9. Frost and modern drama Yasuko Shiojiri
10. Frost and the 'Masque' tradition David John Chandler
11. Frost and anthologies Mark Scott
12. 'Measuring myself against all creation': Frost and pastoral Robert Bernard Hass
13. Thomas Aquinas and The Voyage of the Beagle: Frost's reading David Tutein
Part III. Philosophical and Religious Contexts: 14. Frost and pragmatism Jonathan Levin
15. Frost and the provocation of religion James Barszcz
16. Frost and the Bible Robert Faggen
Part IV. Political and Historical Contexts: 17. Frost's political identity Steven Axelrod
18. Frost and the Great Depression David Evans
19. The post-Reconstruction Frost Mark Richardson
20. Frost and the First World War Tim Kendall
21. Frost and the Second World War Grzegorz Kosc
22. Frost and the Cold War Steven Axelrod
Part V. Geo-Political Contexts: 23. 'What became of New England?': Frost and rural sociology Donald Sheehy
24. Figures of the tourist and guide in Frost Marit MacArthur
25. Frost and a 'native America' Eric Anderson
26. Reading Frost environmentally Thomas Bailey
Part VI. Biographical Contexts: 27. Frost and the problem of biography William Pritchard
28. The Derry years of Robert Frost Lesley Lee Francis
29. All the difference: Robert Frost in England, 1912–15 Sean Street
Part VII. Vocational Contexts: 30. Frost and education Mark Scott
31. Frost and the institutionalization of poetry Mark Richardson
32. The artifactual Frost: the book trade, collectors, and fine printing Pat Alger
33. Robert Frost in the magazines Jonathan N. Barron
34. Meet the press: Frost as pundit Lisa Seale
35. Frost and the public performance of poetry Tyler Hoffman
Part VIII. Scientific and Psychiatric Contexts: 36. Frost and astronomy Henry Atmore
37. Frost and 'The future of man' Henry Atmore
38. 'Everybody's sanity': metaphor and mental health in Frost Don Sheehy
Part IX. Frost and Gender: 39. Education by poetry: Frost, women, and children Karen Kilcup
40. Frost and heroic normativity: form and sexuality Paul Morrison
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary studies: from c 1900 - [DSBH], Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]