Customer Reviews

The Poetry of Robert Frost: The Collected Poems, Complete and Unabridged

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Robert Frost was and is America's greatest poet. Excepting, perhaps, W. B. Yeats, he may be the greatest poet to write English in the twentieth century. (To me, it's a toss-up.) To read this volume systematically or desultorily is to become convinced of that. But Frost is, above all, accessible, so the casual reader may not appreciate the difficulty of what he does. Like much of the greatest art his looks easy, even inevitable.

All of Frost's poems are here, plus his two dramatic Masques. When this book first appeared (in 1969) it caused a furor: the editor, it was angrily asserted, presumed too much. He dared to clarify - inserting a hyphen here, excising a comma there. That furor has since died down, as people realize that he did not do away with the sacred texts (any emendation was noted), but simply performed his job as editor. He regularized spelling and the use of single and double quotes (though not Capitalization, which can legitimately be thought of as integral to the poet's expression (think of e.e. cummings!)), and corrected other obvious errors. The notes give the published variants for each poem, so if you wish you may make your own call on some of these finicky issues.

I cannot emphasize enough: BUY THE HARDCOVER! After all, you will be reading this book for the rest of your life. It is a beautifully-built volume, of an easy size and heft for use, with understated appealing typefaces and an exemplary design. Put out by Frost's long-time publisher, this is one of the few essential books of American literature.

What can I say? Robert Frost is the quintessential American poet. Quite frankly, I never have really been drawn to poetry, either it is overly sentimental, too dramatic, or tries to hard to make a statement. Frost avoids all of these pitfalls, he writes poetry for the common man.

I have to admit, I prefer the earlier works. Beautiful word pictures of an abandoned wood pile in the woods, a dirty patch of snow (or is it a piece of newspaper), and of course, a horse stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. His latter poems lack the beautiful simplicity of his earlier works, but nevertheless, they are still works of the master.

Over the years, this book has been a constant companion. Sitting in my wingback chair, I have enjoyed reading these poems again and again. As I prepared for this review I was struck how many of these poems dealt with death: The Death of the Hired Man, After Apple Picking, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, A Late Walk among them. Others are fanciful such as The Kitchen Chimney.

If you are considering taking a dive into poetry, start here. There is no better American poet than Robert Frost.

If you'll buy a copy of this book and randomly read a poem a day, you'll soon find yourself saying things more colorfully and provocatively than ever before. A daily diet of Robert Frost will season your language with the unpredictable as you unconsciously begin to phrase your thoughts differently. Unusual combinations of words will appear on your tongue as you say things that have never before been said. Your friends will stop you in mid-sentence to ask, "Did you just make that up?" Your customers will more frequently nod their heads and say "I'll buy it." Your spouse will gaze into your eyes and more often be "in the mood."

Don't be a weenie. Buy the hardback. It's worth the extra few bucks.

I first owned this volume of poetry in 1978. That book simply fell apart after more than 20 years of reading and handling (sometimes roughly by my children). I replace this book with a new one just last year.
The old favorites are all here; Fireflies in the Garden, The Road Not Taken, Fire and Ice, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and a hundred more. In my opinion this is the definitive volume on Frost.
I have always been awed by the number of poems Frost wrote about the stars. A Star on a Stoneboat, The Star Spitter, Stars, Canis Major and many others. Truly Robert Frost is the astronomers poet.
Also in this volume is perhaps my favorite Frost poem, Brown's Descent.
If you love reading Frost on a crispy fall evening, then you'll love reading him when the crickets chirp. You'll need to own this book.

Please note that I am only reviewing three volumes - "North of Boston", "Mountain Interval", and "Selected Poems". Somewhere out there is a three volume set of these works; I know because I own it, but I could not find it anywhere on Amazon.
What a voice! What a poet! I had read these before, but I don't remember feeling as I now do, the tremulous emotion of his words, how he captures the smallest thing and gives it voice, beauty. He is very much a nature poet, and a poet of the farm people in Maine. Written between 1913 and 1916 (years of The Great War in Europe), when the world was more thoughtful, only one poem, "Bonfire", mentions the coming war to America. Some are so exquisite as to make a lump in my throat. It's amazing how with just a few words, the exact, perfect, right words, he can plumb to the very heart of things and feelings and emotions. I liked so many and most seem to be about winter. More snow and cold than flowers and warmth. And so much wisdom also. About what's really important. He was a true poet in every sense. He had the right philosophy of things.

"It is absurd to think that the only way to tell if a poem is lasting is to wait and see if it lasts, The reader of good poem can tell the moment it strikes him that he has taken an immortal wound-that he will never get over it...The proof of a poem is not that we have never forgotten it, but we knew at sight we would never forget it."

Robert Frost

I have to admit it! When I first met Robert Frost's poetry in Freshman English class I took an immortal wound-that I will never get over it. Perhaps the then recent memory of the white haired poet who inaugurated Camelot that cold, January day conditioned me to receive the wound. Maybe Fr. Sheridan's teaching opened these poems for me. Most of all, I think that it is the words themselves which have made the poetry of Robert Frost such an important part of my life for almost 35 years.

This complete collection complemented the high school text book to which I had so often referred over the years. Here is the source of lines which I have often quoted. Many family vacations have begun with: "I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep" (Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening).

When my son tries to silence his sister's singing he is reminded that "Of course there must be something wrong In wanting to silence any song" (A Minor Bird).

Here we find philosophical reflections. "Good walls make good neighbors" counters "Something there is that doesn't like a wall" (Mending Wall).

Here "The Death of a Hired Man" challenges us to reflect upon how we value and treat others while "Christmas Trees" reminds us that not all things have prices. Here we are invited to follow the road of the poet who wrote "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference" (The Road Not Taken).

I have writen just a sampling of the treasures to be found in this collection, but I have written enough. It is now time to indulge again with words I have never forgotten. "I shan't be gone long-You come too." (The Pasture).

The title says it all - Complete and Unabridged. Every poem of Robert Frost's is here in this one hardcover volume, in chronological order. The print work is excellent, very clear and large-lettered. It's well worth the money to have all of his wonderful poems together in one place to enjoy.

Robert Frost has a world-wide admiration. And in this book, you can find all his poems grouped neatly in sections connecting them to the place they are written in. So to put it in a nut shell, it is just what you are looking for if you want to buy something you won't regret.

Really good collection. I was able to find an old pressing of a collection of his poems that has one extra book release in it, but otherwise they were identical. I don't need to say Robert Frost is a great writer.. This is a very good collection.

A little over 40 years ago, I was introduced to poetry in general and Robert Frost in particular by Miss Gamble in her high school "Introduction to English Literature" class. My life has never been the same. I'm now reading my 4th copy of this great work (having worn out the previous 3 volumes). Frost was, and still is, the greatest American poet. The word pictures he painted are marvelously descriptive and the often deceptive simplicity of his work is timeless.

As for the reviewer who thinks these poems are "trite and banal" and decries Frost's personal life (as if it somehow diminishes this great work) all I can say is "you have no soul" if you aren't moved and edified by these works.

And by all means, get the hardcover. It's worth the few extra coins.