1874-1963
Robert Frost
American poet of New England farms, woods and hard work. North of Boston (1914), the book of dramatic poems that made his name, is in the public domain.
Every line we carry
Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.
- The best way out is always through.
In Frost's poem a worn-out farm wife repeats her husband's advice while describing a life of chores that never stay done. Going around a hard thing usually leaves it waiting for you. The fastest exit is straight through the middle: the conversation, the training block, the backlog.
"A Servant to Servants" (North of Boston, 1914), Original English (North of Boston, 1914)
- I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
Frost's traveler admits the two paths were worn about the same, then says he will one day tell the story as if the choice was everything. The line is half confession, half resolve: choices become meaningful through what you do after them. Pick your road and walk it so well that the choice was worth it.
"The Road Not Taken" (Mountain Interval, 1916), Original English (Mountain Interval, 1916)
- Way leads on to way.
The traveler tells himself he will come back for the other road, and knows he will not. Every choice opens the next one, and you rarely return to the fork. Choose with that in mind, then stop looking back at the road you left.
"The Road Not Taken" (Mountain Interval, 1916), Original English (Mountain Interval, 1916)
- Miles to go before I sleep.
The rider would like to stay and watch the snow, but he has a road ahead and people waiting. It is the voice of someone who notices beauty and still keeps going. Rest when the work is done; until then, there are miles to go.
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (New Hampshire, 1923), Original English (New Hampshire, 1923)
- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep.
The pull to stop and drift is real, and Frost lets it be lovely. What moves the rider on is a promise. Keeping your word to others is often the thing that keeps you moving when you would rather stay still.
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (New Hampshire, 1923), Original English (New Hampshire, 1923)
- Nothing gold can stay.
The first green of spring looks gold for an hour, then turns ordinary. Frost says every first glow fades. Notice the golden hour while it is here: the session, the summer, the year your kids are small.
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" (New Hampshire, 1923), Original English (New Hampshire, 1923)
- Good fences make good neighbours.
In the poem this is the neighbor's old saying, and the narrator questions it. Both sides have a point: clear boundaries keep the peace, but a wall built from habit can keep out what should come in. Know why your fences are there.
"Mending Wall" (North of Boston, 1914), Original English (North of Boston, 1914)
- Before I built a wall I'd ask what I was walling in or walling out.
Frost's narrator answers the old proverb with a question. Every barrier you put up, at work or in a friendship, keeps something in and something out. Ask which before you start stacking stones.
"Mending Wall" (North of Boston, 1914), Original English (North of Boston, 1914)
- Something there is that doesn't love a wall.
Every spring the frost heaves the stones and the wall falls down again. Nature keeps undoing our separations. The line is a nudge to let some walls stay down.
"Mending Wall" (North of Boston, 1914), Original English (North of Boston, 1914)
- Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.
A farmer says this about an old worker who has come back to die. His wife answers that home is something you somehow do not have to deserve. Be the kind of home people can come back to.
"The Death of the Hired Man" (North of Boston, 1914), Original English (North of Boston, 1914)
- The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.
The mower is not dreaming of easy gold; his scythe whispers about the real hay on the ground. Frost says honest work is its own reward, and the finished thing beats any fantasy. Do the work and let the result be the dream.
"Mowing" (A Boy's Will, 1913), Original English (A Boy's Will, 1913)
- Men work together, whether they work together or apart.
A man turning hay finds a patch of flowers that an earlier mower left standing, and feels joined to someone he never met. Work done with care reaches people you will never see. You are never as alone in your work as it feels.
"The Tuft of Flowers" (A Boy's Will, 1913), Original English (A Boy's Will, 1913)
- They would not find me changed, only more sure of all I thought was true.
The young poet imagines walking off into the dark woods and being followed by those who miss him. If they found him, he would be the same man, only surer. Go out into the unknown to deepen who you are, not to lose it.
"Into My Own" (A Boy's Will, 1913), Original English (A Boy's Will, 1913)
- Earth's the right place for love.
Frost wants to get away for a while, but not for good. Here, with its trouble and weather, is where love actually happens. Do your loving now, in this life, not in some better one you imagine.
"Birches" (Mountain Interval, 1916), Original English (Mountain Interval, 1916)