Best Robert Frost Poems to Read for Deep Reflection

Robert Frost is one of the most renowned poets in America, whose writings continue to have an impact on readers today. His poetry addresses topics of nature, rural life, and the human condition and is set apart by its relatable language and unusually simple manner. Robert Frost's poems are timeless classics because of how he managed to capture the spirit of ordinary situations, frequently with a hint of sorrow and mystery.

Frost's work has its roots in the pastoral style and is influenced by the people and landscapes of New England. However, by incorporating universal themes of failure, decision-making, and the search for meaning into his work, he transcends simple regionalism. His timeless appeal is a result of this seriousness as well as his expert grasp of symbolism and imagery.

So let’s explore some Robert Frost famous poems that will take you into deep thought, because every single word he writes carries a special meaning.

The Road Not Taken Poem By Robert Frost

The poem "The Road Not Taken" uses the road as an example for life. According to the poet, the route we don't travel in life is the one we don't choose. Our future and destination are shaped by the road we have selected. The poet's main point is that every decision we make affects our future; if we make a poor decision, we regret it but are unable to change it. Therefore, when making decisions, we must use caution.

Here is that poem about life:

The Road Not Taken

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.

Fire And Ice Poem By Robert Frost

The simple language used in Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice" conceals a deep message. The poet creates a comparison between the self-destructive character of humans and fire and ice. The poem implies that hate and desire are equally destructive energies. The poem describes this devastation using an image of the end of the world.

Here is the Robert Frost Poem Fire and Ice that describes the end of the world:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Mending Wall Poem by Robert Frost

Robert Frost's "Mending Wall" examines the nature of social relationships. According to him, there are two kinds of people: those who want walls and those who don't. The speaker of the poem opens by explaining how the stone wall separating his land from that of his neighbor is being damaged by natural forces. Each spring, the two men get together to fix the wall, restoring fallen stones while moving along opposing sides.

Here is the poem that reflects the image of society.

Mending Wall

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.’

Poem by Robert Frost Stopping by Woods on A Snowy Evening

The writer of the poem has briefly stopped by on a winter evening in the woods, attracted by the amazing scenes taking place. He is debating whether to stay in the woods or go home as he takes a moment to enjoy a dose of organic beauty.

Here is that Robert Frost snowy woods poem:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

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.

After Apple Picking Poem by Robert Frost

Robert Frost's "After Apple-Picking" opens with an apple picker's reflections after a long day at work. The poem continues to examine themes of death and life. The speaker describes how his long ladder continues to rise high towards heaven while "sticking through a tree." It appears that he intentionally left it there so that he might pick more apples later.

Here is Robert Frost best poem:

After Apple Picking

My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree

Toward heaven still,

And there's a barrel that I didn't fill

Beside it, and there may be two or three

Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.

But I am done with apple-picking now.

Essence of winter sleep is on the night,

The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.

I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight

I got from looking through a pane of glass

I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough

And held against the world of hoary grass.

It melted, and I let it fall and break.

But I was well

Upon my way to sleep before it fell,

And I could tell

What form my dreaming was about to take.

Magnified apples appear and disappear,

Stem end and blossom end,

And every fleck of russet showing clear.

My instep arch not only keeps the ache,

It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.

I feel the ladder sway as the boughs bend.

And I keep hearing from the cellar bin

The rumbling sound

Of load on load of apples coming in.

For I have had too much

Of apple-picking: I am overtired

Of the great harvest I myself desired.

There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,

Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.

For all

That struck the earth,

No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,

Went surely to the cider-apple heap

As of no worth.

One can see what will trouble

This sleep of mine, whatever sleep it is.

Were he not gone,

The woodchuck could say whether it's like his

Long sleep, as I describe its coming on,

Or just some human sleep.

Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" explores the changing nature of beauty by looking at how time affects the natural world, reflecting on life's volatility. Every line contributes to the poem's thesis, which is the temporary aspect of existence. Frost is arguing that everything fades with time, which contributes to their beauty.

Here is that Robert Frost Love poem:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which topics appear frequently in the poetry of Robert Frost?

 Frost frequently discusses nature, life decisions, loneliness, society, rural life, and philosophical ideas.

Q. Why is Robert Frost's poetry special?

His approach is set apart by the way he combines intellectual ideas, natural imagery, and emotional simplicity.

Q. How does society appear in Robert Frost's poetry?

He draws attention to pressures from society, human behaviour, decision-making, and the delicate nature of relationships.