Robert Frost, noted American poet produced countless poems until his death in 1963. According to his educational background, he never actually graduated from college although history mentioned that Harvard’s 1965 alumni directory indicated that he did receive an honorary degree from their university. In his lifetime, he received over 40 honorary degrees from various universities and colleges including those from the world-renowned Cambridge, Oxford and Princeton universities.

Many educational establishments were named after him and his poetry earned him 4 Pulitzer Prizes. Even after his death, his poems were often quoted far and wide even to this day. I personally recall reading about a reference to him just the other day on an online local news report. His popularity often resulted in his poems being quoted over and over again in all forms of media.

He once wrote: “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life - It goes on”. Now, isn’t that so philosophical of him? And having spent many a year in a farm (endowed by his father) where he produced many of his creative works, he gained a lifestyle which eventually earned him the reputation of being regarded highly for his realistic
portrayal of rural life.

And when he switched to teaching, he was on one occasion responsible for encouraging his students to “account for the sounds of the human voice in their writing”. There – poetry to my ears!!

In his later years just before he passed away, he performed a reading of his poetry at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. His epitaph at his graveyard reads: "I had a lover's quarrel with the world", obviously a line from one of his poems. He was indeed a poet…

Let me end on this note by including 2 of my favorite poems by the man himself:

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.

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.