On Looking Up by Chance at the Constellations
by Robert Frost

You’ll wait a long, long time for anything much
To happen in heaven beyond the floats of cloud
And the Northern Lights that run like tingling nerves.
The sun and moon get crossed, but they never touch,
Nor strike out fire from each other nor crash out loud.
The planets seem to interfere in their curves –
But nothing ever happens, no harm is done.
We may as well go patiently on with our life,
And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun
For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane.
It is true the longest drout will end in rain,
The longest peace in China will end in strife.
Still it wouldn’t reward the watcher to stay awake
In hopes of seeing the calm of heaven break
On his particular time and personal sight.
That calm seems certainly safe to last to-night.

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was born in San Francisco, California. His father William Frost, a journalist and an ardent Democrat, died when Frost was about eleven years old. His Scottish mother, the former Isabelle Moody, resumed her career as a schoolteacher to support her family. The family lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts, with Frost’s paternal grandfather, William Prescott Frost, who gave his grandson a good schooling. In 1892 Frost graduated from a high school and attended Darthmouth College for a few months. Over the next ten years he held a number of jobs. Frost worked among others in a textile mill and taught Latin at his mother’s school in Methuen, Massachusetts. In 1894 the New York Independent published Frost’s poem ‘My Butterfly’ and he had five poems privately printed. Frost worked as a teacher and continued to write and publish his poems in magazines. In 1895 he married a former schoolmate, Elinor White; they had six children.

From 1897 to 1899 Frost studied at Harvard, but left without receiving a degree. He moved to Derry, New Hampshire, working there as a cobbler, farmer, and teacher at Pinkerton Academy and at the state normal school in Plymouth. When he sent his poems to The Atlantic Monthly they were returned with this note: “We regret that The Atlantic has no place for your vigorous verse.”

In 1912 Frost sold his farm and took his wife and four young children to England. There he published his first collection of poems, A BOY’S WILL, at the age of 39. It was followed by NORTH BOSTON (1914), which gained international reputation. The collection contains some of Frost’s best-known poems: ‘Mending Wall,’ ‘The Death of the Hired Man,’ ‘Home Burial,’ ‘A Servant to Servants,’ ‘After Apple-Picking,’ and ‘The Wood-Pile.’ The poems, written with blank verse or looser free verse of dialogue, were drawn from his own life, recurrent losses, everyday tasks, and his loneliness.

While in England Frost was deeply influenced by such English poets as Rupert Brooke. After returning to the US in 1915 with his family, Frost bought a farm near Franconia, New Hampshire. When the editor of The Atlantic Monthly asked for poems, he gave the very ones that had previously been rejected. Frost taught later at Amherst College (1916-38) and Michigan universities. In 1916 he was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. On the same year appeared his third collection of verse, MOUNTAIN INTERVAL, which contained such poems as ‘The Road Not Taken,’ ‘The Oven Bird,’ ‘Birches,’ and ‘The Hill Wife.’ Frost’s poems show deep appreciation of natural world and sensibility about the human aspirations. His images – woods, stars, houses, brooks, – are usually taken from everyday life. With his down-to-earth approach to his subjects, readers found it is easy to follow the poet into deeper truths, without being burdened with pedantry. Often Frost used the rhythms and vocabulary of ordinary speech or even the looser free verse of dialogue.

In 1920 Frost purchased a farm in South Shaftsbury, Vermont, near Middlebury College where he cofounded the Bread Loaf School and Conference of English. His wife died in 1938 and he lost four of his children. Two of his daughters suffered mental breakdowns, and his son Carol, a frustrated poet and farmer, committed suicide. Frost also suffered from depression and the continual self-doubt led him to cling to the desire to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature. After the death of his wife, Frost became strongly attracted to Kay Morrison, whom he employed as his secretary and adviser. Frost also composed for her one of his finest love poems, ‘A Witness Tree.’

Frost travelled in 1957 with his future biographer Lawrance Thompson to England and to Israel and Greece in 1961. He participated in the inauguration of President John Kennedy in 1961 by reciting two of his poems. When the sun and the wind prevented him from reading his new poem, ‘The Preface’, Frost recited his old poem, ‘The Gift Outright’, from memory. Frost travelled in 1962 in the Soviet Union as a member of a goodwill group. He had a long talk with Premier Nikita Khrushchev, whom he described as “no fathead”; as smart, big and “not a coward.” Frost also reported that Khrushchev had said the United States was “too liberal to fight,” it caused a considerable stir in Washington. Among the honors and rewards Frost received were tributes from the U.S. Senate (1950), the American Academy of Poets (1953), New York University (1956), and the Huntington Hartford Foundation (1958), the Congressional Gold Medal (1962), the Edward MacDowell Medal (1962). In 1930 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Amherst College appointed him Saimpson Lecturer for Life (1949), and in 1958 he was made poetry consultant for the Library of Congress.

Biography of Robert Frost was provided by Wikipedia.

And here we are in space. We are above and beyond…

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Jun 1, ’09 Beautiful….thank you.  : )

deletereply sanssouciblogs wrote on Jun 1, ’09 This is gorgeous in every way!!! What a treat!

deletereply caffeinatedjo wrote on Jun 1, ’09 lauritasita said We may as well go patiently on with our life, And look elsewhere than to stars and moon and sun For the shocks and changes we need to keep us sane. I agree with him.  Beautiful poem and pictures.  “Mending Wall” is my favorite of all the poems he’s written.

deletereply billatplay wrote on Jun 1, ’09 And here we are in space. We are above and beyond… We are also below and near… Collectively we are one giant balancing act. Waiting to meet the Juggler.

deletereply bostonsdandd wrote on Jun 2, ’09 Have to say I LOVE Bill’s comment LOL. Sorry s. I’m always amazed at the detail you take to make this an extraordinary page.  The poem reminds us to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground. Who doesn’t need THAT reminder LOL? And the picture is just “out of this world.” ;o). And the music is timeless. GREAT post Laurita! http://bostonsdandd.multiply.com/journal/item/313

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 2, ’09 bostonsdandd said I’m always amazed at the detail you take to make this an extraordinary page. The poem reminds us to keep our feet firmly planted on the ground. Who doesn’t need THAT reminder LOL? Thank you for your kind comment. I sometimes like to take a timeless message from an old poem, and try to bring it into the 21st century.

deletereply poeticjay wrote on Jun 3, ’09 This is a wonderful post . Thanks for sharing about this amazing man.

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on Jun 3, ’09 : ) Robert Frost is excellent.

deletereply asolotraveler wrote on Jun 3, ’09 Frost is universally superb!  i can still recall him struggling to read in the glare and sunlight at JFK’s inaugural….

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 3, ’09 asolotraveler said i can still recall him struggling to read in the glare and sunlight at JFK’s inaugural…. Yes, I remember that, too ! and he ended up reciting a different poem than he intended. It was one that he had memmorized so he wouldn’t have to read.

deletereply vickiecollins wrote on Jun 4, ’09 I remember one poem of his so very well…but didnt know much else about him.  I have learned a lot from reading your blog this week. http://vickiecollins.multiply.com/journal/item/747/Poetry_Wednesday_June_3rd

deletereply dianahopeless wrote on Jun 5, ’09 I love Frost’s poetry, this one included. But, I would still gaze at the stars and hope for a falling star to wish on. lol Thanks for the info on Frost. I knew very little about the man. http://dianahopeless.multiply.com/journal/item/578/Poetry_Wednesday_Love_Sonnet_XVII

deletereply forgetmenot525 wrote on Jun 5, ’09 Thanks for all this background infomation, i didn’t know much about his so this is great. And this is a very thought provoking poem Laurita, thank you

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Jun 5, ’09 forgetmenot525 said this is a very thought provoking poem I felt that this was not a typical Robert Frost poem, and the image I posted with it reminded me of it.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Dec 9, ’11 Another year gone by…