074. P S Remesh Chandran’s Articles Volume I.

074. 

P S Remesh Chandran’s Articles Volume I By P S Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

By  PSRemeshChandra, 5th May 2017. Short URL http://nut.bz/2ca-zvmi/ First Posted in Wikinut>Writing>Essays

Articles written by P S Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books Trivandrum, published at reputed platforms including Wikinut, Linked In and Internet Archives which are of interest to students, researchers and general readers are brought here at one place as part of a series of articles to make them accessible to all. Those available only in his sites and blogs, or only as books, and his video songs, speeches and single line drawings are all linked here.

Ten earliest essays are reintroduced here with useful links.

The ten articles reintroduced here are: 001 Solitude: Alexander Pope. 002 Sophist: P S Remesh Chandran. 003 The Forsaken Merman: Matthew Arnold. 004 The Leech Gatherer: William Wordworth. 005 The Lake Isle Of Innisfree: W B Yeats. 006 Leisure: W H Davies. 007. Song To The Men Of England: P B Shelley. 008. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening: Robert Frost. 009. Two Famous Death Poems: Shirley And Shakespeare. 010. Leave This Chanting: Rabindranath Tagore.

Links to Articles, Free PDF Downloads and Flip Books are provided.

When these articles were first released, there were only the articles. Now there is Free PDF Downloads and Flip Books to these articles which would be of immense help to students, so their links are provided here. Students are perfectly free to download them for their studies. It is the author’s and his Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum’s wish for them to be of use to the world student community. Remember that the pictures used in these articles may have restrictions on reuse but the text of these articles is perfectly free to be downloaded for academic purposes.

001. Solitude. Alexander Pope Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
  

01. Happy to breathe his native air in his own ground By Robert.

Alexander Pope was born a Catholic in Protestant England, was forbidden to live in London City and was liable to pay a double taxation. Moreover, he was suffering from a series of diseases. ‘To combat these handicaps’, he possessed more than the courage of a lion. His poems were acrimonious attacks on society, and in a few cases they were against authority. He mentioned names in his poems, leaving dashes in places, which his contemporaries happily filled in to the embarrassment of adversaries. 

First Published: 7th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/281k669t/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2011/11/01.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAYUotN081VDVnZGc

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE001SolitudeAlexanderPopePSRemeshChandran

002. Sophist. P S Remesh Chandran Poem.

02. Athens in 1832 By Martinus Rørbye.

The ancient Sophist saints in Greece were exceptionally clever with the use of their tongues. Don't play with them- they can bind us cunningly with their tongues. And don't corner them- we will never forget what hit us. Here in this poem, one sophist saint is tried in Court for crime when Judges get stung. Classical sophists were well-versed in paradoxes, understanding the meaning of which won’t be easy. So, here, the court had to let him go free. 

First Published: 2 Sep 2010. Short URL http://nut.bz/oth.p1gi/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2010/09/sophist-poem-by-psremesh-chandran.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAWDJfNERITEdDc2M

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE002SophistPoemPSRemeshChandran

003. The Forsaken Merman. Matthew Arnold Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.

03. We will gaze at the lost town. Mermaid statue Cleveland Museum of Art Ohio By Daderot.

Matthew Arnold was a severe critic of literature. Essays In Criticism was his monumental work in which he let no great poet go unscathed. Usually such critics would be asked a question: why don't you write a great poem? The Forsaken Merman was Arnold's answer to this question in which he proved not only could he create poems with hilarious themes but incorporate multi tunes also into a single poem. After creating a few more poems, he returned to academics and criticism. 

First Published: 13th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/1ljtosiw/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/01/03the-forsaken-merman-matthew-arnold.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFALXV4eUVNOVdFV1U

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE003TheForsakenMermanMatthewArnoldPSRemeshChandran

004. The Leech Gatherer. William Wordworth Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 04. Marshes, beauty spots of nature By Ivan Shishkin 1890.

William Wordsworth's poetry has no style because nature and life has no style. The perfect plainness of his poems gained him popularity. He mostly wrote about nature and man and is considered the world's greatest nature poet. The world was very late in recognizing his merit. However, glory found its way to his grave. The Leech-Gatherer, alternatively titled ‘Resolution And Independence’ is the universal symbol of eternal human labour. 

First Published: 15th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/134a-2vx/
Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/004-leech-gatherer-william-wordsworth.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAR2RqazZHTDg1YTQ

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE004TheLeechGathererWilliamWordsworthPSRemeshChandran

005. The Lake Isle Of Innisfree. William Butler Yeats Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 05. The mid-lake abode of loneliness and quietness By Eibsee.

Poets are accused to be unrealistic day-dreamers who are given to fancy. Day-dreaming and fancying all do and take off, but only a few can safely land also. W B Yeats was a perfect poet who could do both. Not many have expressed fancy in more beautiful words than he did, and fewer still have reminded the world of its duties and responsibilities as effectively. This poem has always been a sensation among the poetry-reading public and is the international song and manifesto of solitude-seekers. 

First Published: 16th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/19ed-hvz/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/01/05-lake-isle-of-innisfree-wbyeats.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFATEdtcEwzaHhpeDg

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE005TheLakeIsleOfInnisfreeWBYeatsPSRemeshChandran

006. Leisure. W H Davies Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 06. Guardian of the gateway in leisurely vigil: A heron By Pauline Eccles.

Man is always eager to observe and enjoy the beauties of nature. Only that he does not get enough time for rest to elate and thrill his mind by soaking up the magnificent spectacles Mother Nature has created around him. It was in the midst of and from these beauties that man was created. Therefore, his wish to always be with them is only natural. Whenever he has to leave the beauties of nature behind, he pines in his heart as if leaving his homeland. 

First Published: 16th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/qp4j6ml6/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/06-leisure-whdavies-appreciation-by.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAanhJUUxUSXUwVG8

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE006LeisureWHDaviesPSRemeshChandran

007. Song To The Men Of England. Percy Bysshe Shelley Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 07. Sow seed and reap but let not the idle heap By Bernard Gagnon.

A revolutionary is a person who causes constant changes around him wherever he is. In this sense, Shelley was a revolutionary poet. Song To The Men Of England opened up world's eyes to the torture, brutality and exploitation workers were subjected to in England during the time of her colonial prosperity and raised the question: Why can't they revolt? Karl Marx predicted workers’ revolution in England as follow up of the Industrial Revolution but it never happened. The English workers were inert. 

First Published: 18th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/21kpi-9l/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/07-song-to-men-of-england-pbshelley.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAZXY2SE9tYmZHZnM

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE007SongToTheMenOfEnglandPBShelleyPSRemeshChandran

008. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. Robert Frost Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 08. All a winter's work By Böhringer Friedrich.

Nature creates many beauties for man to observe but man, being burdened with the multitude of tasks of running a family, cannot spare his time for sharing the pleasantness nature imbues. In his rush of life he is forced to abandon the easy solaces nature offers which if accepted, would have served as a balm for his mind in flames. Robert Frost's poem ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ shows a glimpse of what treasures man has lost. True, what man forgets first is the beauty of his mother. 

First Published: 19th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/eslzz8m7/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/08-stopping-by-woods-robert-frost.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFASHJ6NHdhUWZQZlE

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE008StoppingByWoodsRobertFrostPSRemeshChandran

009. Two Famous Death Poems By Shirley And Shakespeare. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.

09. A burial painting By Enrico Pollastrini 1851.

Death is the end of all earthly cares and the beginning of eternal things. It is believed that the moment we die, we are born in another universe. With it begins a new way of being. More number of songs and poems has been written on death than on birth. It is considered an important event in man's life. In many communities throughout the world, death is an occasion for rejoicing and celebration. Shakespeare's Fear No More and James Shirley's Death The Leveller are appreciated here. 

First Published: 21st Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/evi23ktc/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/009-two-famous-death-poems-shirley-and.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAc1QwSU13U3dMWTQ

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE009TwoFamousDeathPoemsShirleyAndShakespearePSRemeshChandran

010. Leave This Chanting. Rabindranath Tagore Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.
 10. Tagore reading to others 1925 By Unknown.

God was the most beautiful creation of mankind, created in his exact image- man’s own image- playful, lovely and comely, so that he can easily identify himself with God. So why not love him ardently and affectionately, and respect him beyond everything? After creating mankind, God did not wish to leave them alone but decided to stay with them, which was a great sacrifice on His part. Leave This Chanting is one of the most read poems of Rabindranath Tagore, with the most universal message. 

First Published: 22nd Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/1zdohpx2/

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/03/010-leave-this-chanting-rabindranath.html

Download PDF: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7UyS8upcOFAX1JkMkpHaVBwTkU

Flip Book: https://archive.org/details/SBTAE010LeaveThisChantingRabindranathTagorePSRemeshChandran

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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Picture Credits:

01. Happy to breathe his native air in his own ground By Robert.
02. Athens in 1832 By Martinus Rørbye.
03. We will gaze at the lost town By Daderot.
04. Marshes, beauty spots of nature By Ivan Shishkin 1890.
05. The mid-lake abode of loneliness and quietness By Eibsee.
06. Guardian of the gateway in leisurely vigil: A heron By Pauline Eccles.
07. Sow seed and reap but let not the idle heap By Bernard Gagnon.
08. All a winter's work By Böhringer Friedrich.
09. A burial painting By Enrico Pollastrini 1851.
10. Tagore reading to others 1925 By Unknown.
11. Author Profile of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Meet the author: About the author and accessing his other literary works. 

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of 'Swan, The Intelligent Picture Book'. Edits and owns Bloom Books Channel. Born and brought up in Nanniyode, a little village in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Kerala. Father British Council-trained English Teacher and mother university-educated. Matriculation with High First Class, Pre Degree studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship, discontinued Diploma Studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single.

11. Author Profile of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Dear Reader,

If you cannot access all pages of P S Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum, kindly access them via this link provided here:
https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/wiki-nut-articles

Visit author's Sahyadri Books Trivandrum in Blogger at
http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/ and his Bloom Books Channel in You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/user/bloombooks/videos

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Face Book Page: https://www.facebook.com/psremeshchandra.trivandrum

Tags

Alexander Pope, Bloom Books Trivandrum, English Articles, Free Student Notes, James Shirley, Leave This Chanting, Leisure, Matthew Arnold, P B Shelley, Poem Reviews, Poetry Appreciations, P S Remesh Chandran, Rabindranath Tagore, Robert Frost, Sahyadri Books Trivandrum, Solitude, Song To The Men Of England, Sophist, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, The Forsaken Merman, The Lake Isle Of Innisfree, The Leech Gatherer, Two Famous Death Poems, W B Yeats, W H Davies, William Shakespeare, William Wordworth, 

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First Published: 05 May 2017 
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Identifier: SBT-AE-074. P S Remesh Chandran’s Articles Volume I.

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Editor: P S Remesh Chandran

073. The Life And Works Of Robert Frost. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran

073
 
The Life And Works Of Robert Frost 

P. S. Remesh Chandran 

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

Article title image by Jerzy Gorecki. Graphics: Adobe SP.
 

The life and works of the American poet Robert Frost is of interest to students the world over. His achievements as a poet and educator have been studied and researched well and chronicled in several volumes by eminent writers. The fact is they are scattered throughout several publications and not readily available to learners to look at a glance. This brief article attempts to record them for students, to augment available text, to be used as an introduction or appendix to studies on his poems.

Robert Frost’s father travels west to become a journalist and settles in San Francisco.

01. Portrait of Robert Frost 1913.

William Prescott Frost Junior was a native of Lawrence City of Essex County in Massachusetts, in the Merrimack River valley in America. He went west to become a journalist, married Isabelle Moodie of Pennsylvania and settled in San Francisco. Both were highly educated teachers. Robert Frost was their first son, born in 1874 in San Francisco. He was named after the famous American Civil War Southern General, Robert E. Lee. Robert soon had a sister too, named Jeanie.

An independent mother returns to Lawrence after husband’s death.

When William Frost died after living 11 years in San Francisco his wife, a spiritual woman, returned to Lawrence with their two children due to poverty and loss of revenue. She taught in a local school and took care of her family with this meager income. But she also taught her children the Bible and Scottish legends. We must note that Mr. William Prescott Frost Senior did not come to their aid at this stage of their life, or Mrs. Isabelle Robert Frost did not go to him and accept his charity, as William Prescott Frost Junior had left Lawrence, gone to San Francisco and married the woman against the wishes of his father.

Life in a town of mill workers near the Merrimack River.

02. Portrait of Robert Frost 1917.  

Lawrence then was a town mainly of mill workers, as the Merrimack River unfailingly catered to the energy needs of the numerous water mills there. Robert and his sister were educated at Lawrence High School where he was one of the best students, won scholarships and began writing poems at the early age of ten. He also won the heart of his brilliant schoolmate Elinor White, whom he married later. Both loved poetry and loved teaching. So it happened that the mother, son and daughter-in-law taught at the same town school for a time.

Saying farewell to teaching, starting farming, and becoming a serious writer.

03. Portrait of Robert Frost 1941.

  

Strenuous learning schedules and the more strenuous teaching schedules made Robert Frost weak, and his doctor advised him a slower life and more fresh air. Here his grandfather, a long-time resident of this town, came to their help who purchased a farm for them at Derry in New Hampshire in 1900. This farm at Derry is now a National Historic Monument. For the next five years Frost said farewell to teaching and a led the life of a farmer in Derry. He loved farmhouses and farms which love remained with him till the end of his life. In fact, since Derry, wherever he lived, he purchased a farm to live at. The Junior Frost was not much of a farmer anytime in his life, but with the help of a hired hand loaned by his grandfather the family survived, which now had grown into a large one with many more children added, minus Frost’s mother and his first child who were now dead and gone. Derry was quite a natural setting for a poet and it was at Derry that Robert Frost wrote most of his early poems, which all were turned down by American publishers. History tells us that this brilliant American poet who was later showered with awards, honors and honorary degrees had to wait till he reached England to get his books published. The American publishers’ totally ignoring this genius before England noted his poetry still remains a shame to the American publishing industry.

Sells farm, sails to England and recognized for the first time.  

Frost and bad climate can affect farms adversely and destroy crops devastatingly and cut farmers income which happened to Robert Frost too. So he returned to teaching and the resultant further failing of health. Finally, tired of teaching, farming and neglect by American publishers, he sold the Derry farm in 1912 and sailed for England with family at the age of 38. Even though he remained in England only for three years till 1915 when the First World War broke out, he was well received by British publishers, they published his first two books and he became a poet noted both in England and America. It must be noted that his first two books A Boy’s Will and North Of Boston had both British and American Editions as were some of his following books to be.

Returns from England and leads a life of honors, awards and gold medals in America.  

Robert Frost returning to New York from England found that he had become equally famous in America. As is expected of him now, he purchased a farm in Franconia in the New Hampshire Mountains, published his third book of poetry and made extensive travels in America as a lecturer-poet. This farm in Franconia also is a National Historic Monument now. What troubled Frost most was the severe cold in Franconia which affected his apple orchards. So after five years of farming, lecturing and poetry-writing in Franconia, he sold the Franconia farm and moved to Shaftsbury in Vermont by purchasing a farm there as usual as a somewhat permanent settlement, where he lived with his now dwindling family for twenty years. Life at Shaftsbury from 1920 to 1940 was the most productive and satisfying period in his life, when viewed from a materialist’s angle. Greatest honors came his way during this period. He became one of the greatest and best university teachers in America and one of the greatest poets in the world. By this time had become more a university man than a farmer-poet. Amherst College and Boston University became the centers of his living in a way.

A Robert Frost farm in the remote and most uninhabited place in the mountains.
  

So when his dear wife died in 1938 and son in 1940, he said farewell to Vermont State also and began living in Boston for the rest of his life. Do not anyone think this farmer said farewell to farms and farmhouses also. Though he continued to live in Boston, he bought the Homer Noble Farm in Ripton in Maddison County in the Green Mountains in Vermont and made his summer residence there- the most remote and mostly uninhabited place where the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference which he invariably attended was held in every summer. When Frost died in Boston in 1963 at the age of 88, his body was brought back to the First Congregational Church in Old Bennington Town in Vermont to be laid beside his beloved wife and son. Robert Frost Cabin in his 150-acre farm in Ripton now owned by Middlebury College also is a National Historic Landmark.

Nature as a background in Robert Frost’s poems.

04. Frost’s Derry Farm Buildings.  

Most of Frost’s poems are full of imageries of landscapes and pastoral scenes from nature, with peasants and farmers toiling from morning till night to make possible their daily existence. This background of nature serves as a canvass on which to draw the psychological struggle of man. For him, nature was a diving board to launch man. In ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’, the slowly snow-filled forest serves as a background for drawing the psychological struggle of nature-loving man prompted to go away from nature’s beauties to make time for fulfilling the chores of daily family life. We might wonder whether he gives more importance to man or nature in his poems- it is man indeed. We might also wonder whether he is to be qualified as a nature poet or a philosophical poet- he is the philosophical poet indeed. He himself said: “I am not a nature poet. There is almost always a person in my poems.” Nature is only a background in his poems presented as life-sustaining or destructive, but it is not the theme. It is the experiences and feelings of the man or woman in the poems which is the theme. Frost also had concerns about the influence of science over nature in the destiny of man. The fault of science is that it cannot be unlearned. What knowledge science imparts stays and influences the future. If his lines can be taken as reflections of his true beliefs, he considered nature as a very destructive and wild force which would one day wipe out human race from the face of the earth. ‘Will man ever succeed in his battle for taming the nature? Is not nature a mightier force which will eventually destroy man? Is not nature more alien and hostile to man than helping him in accommodating along with the other creations?’ These have been great concerns Frost expressed in his poems.

A perfectionist in poetry who stood for tone and sound and tune.

05. Derry Farm Building With Sign.
 

The tone and sound in a poem were of paramount importance to Robert Frost. He said ‘what is poetry is tone’ and asked readers ‘to listen for the tune’. He loathed adhering to conservative and stiff vocabulary and wrote poems in simple words. But he was an unwavering perfectionist also where form was concerned. He called himself a Metricist. Writing poems without metrical form or writing so-called free verse was like ‘playing tennis without a net’ for him. Saying one thing and meaning something else also is a technique he frequently used in his poems- a technique which in literary terms is called metaphor. He was well-versed in using metaphors.

The keeper and breaker of rules in poetry.  

06. Derry Farm Sign.  

Frost can be said to be a keeper of rules as well as a breaker of rules in poetry. He reveled in keeping the traditional and universal standards in poetics and rebelled in breaking them occasionally. Being a skilled versifier and very accurate in using botanical and biological terms, students of poetry turn to his poems for learning the principles of versification as illustrated in them and the psychological impact of his verses on readers, learners, listeners and singers. Researchers turn to them for their use of form, meter, imagery, tone, style, figurative language and sound devices. They will find that even while using traditional meters and form, he did not hesitate to introduce conversational language in his poems. He had lifelong interest in astronomy and used star imagery in his poems. The rightful place for Robert Frost as a poet is, after Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson in the 19th century and with Carl Sandberg and T S Elliot in the 20th century.

Once a poet has stated his mind in fine language, is he to further explain it in inferior language?
  

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, The Road Not Taken, Mending Wall, Birches, After Apple-Picking and Desert Places are the most widely read poems of Robert Frost. Making choices in life is a frequently occurring dilemma in man’s life and Stopping By Woods and The Road Not Taken are about making this choice. Apple Picking and a set of poems like it deal with religious beliefs. Mending Wall and Birches handle the theme of the impact of nature’s imagery on man. Isolation of human mind is the theme of poems like Acquainted With The Night. Frost considered poetry as the best part of a language and refused to further explain his poems. ‘I have written my poem as well as I possibly could, and now you want me to restate it, using inferior language?’ he asked.

Robert Frost’s books to appear in print through years.
 07. Frost House, Brewster Street, Cambridge, Massachusettes.  

During the period from 1912 to 1962, fifteen collections of Frost’s poems were published. Most of them had English and American editions. They were A Boy's Will 1912, North Of Boston 1914, Mountain Interval 1916, Selected Poems 1923, New Hampshire 1923, West-Running Brook 1928, Collected Poems 1930, A Further Range 1936, Collected Poems 1939, A Witness Tree 1942, A Masque Of Reason 1945, Steeple Bush 1947, A Masque Of Mercy 1947, Complete Poems 1949 and In The Clearing 1962.

Schools, colleges and universities Robert Frost attended.  

Many schools, colleges and universities were associated with the name of Robert Frost where he either studied or officiated as lecturer, professor or fellow, spanning many decades. Methuen Elementary School 1893, Salem District School 1894, Isabelle Moodie Frost Private School 1895 were where he studied. He served at Pinkerton Academy 1906-1911, New Hampshire State Normal School 1911-1912, Amherst College 1917-1920, Michigan University as Poet in Residence & Fellow in Creative Arts 1921-1922, Amherst College as Professor of English 1923-1925, University of Michigan as Fellow in Letters 1925, Amherst College as Professor of English 1926-1938, Pierson College as Associate Fellow, Yale University 1933, Harvard University as Ralph Waldo Emerson Fellow in Poetry 1939-1943, Dartmouth College as George Ticknor Fellow in Humanities 1943-1949, Amherst College as Simpson Lecturer in Literature 1949, Bread Loaf School of English as Lecturer, and Writers' Conference 1938-1962.

Honors that came the way of Robert Frost.
 08. Shaftsburry Stone House, Vermont 1927.

The first of the honors that came the way of Robert Frost was the Co-Valedictorian & Hood Prize for Scholastic Excellence in High School. The Phi Beta Kappa Poet honor was given to him six times by Tufts in 1915, Harvard in 1916, Columbia in 1932, Tufts again in 1940, Harvard again in 1941 and College of William and Mary in 1941. He was made a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Philosophical Society, and Board of Overseers of Harvard College. He was also appointed as Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry, Ralph Waldo Emerson Fellow in Poetry and Associate of Adams House in Harvard, Simpson Lecturer in Literature in Amherst, Consultant in Poetry in the Library of Congress, Inaugural Poet for President John F. Kennedy and Poet Laureate of Vermont State.

Awards showered upon Robert Frost.
  09. Ripton Cabin, Vermont.   

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry- the famous annual award for letters, drama and music for American authors- was given to Robert Frost four times- in 1924, 1931, 1937 and 1943. He was the only one to receive it four times. He was also presented with Congressional Gold Medal 1960. Academy of American Poets gave him an award and Poetry Society of America honored him twice with Gold Medals. National Institute of Arts and Letters, Holland Society of New York and Limited Editions Club also gave him Gold Medals. To Robert Frost went Russell Loines Poetry Prize, Bollingen Prize in Poetry, Emerson-Thoreau Medal, Edward MacDowell Medal and Huntington Hartford Foundation Award also. Theodore Roosevelt Society, Signet Society, Harvard College and New York University also presented him with Medals of Honor.

Honorary Degrees and degrees awarded to Robert Frost.
 10. Nobel Prize Dinner 1962 With President Kennedy.  

It is recorded that forty two degrees and honorary degrees were awarded to Robert Frost by various universities in America, England and Ireland, such as M.A. (Master of Arts- Magister Artium), L.H.D. (Doctor of Humane Letters- Litterarum humanarum doctor), LL.D. (Doctor of Laws- Legum Doctor) and D.Litt. (Doctor of Letters- Doctor Litterarum), the last being beyond the Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy- Philosophiae Doctor) and equal to D.Sc. (Doctor of Science- Scientiae Doctor). There must have been a few more at the receiving end of which was Robert Frost. These degrees and honorary degrees are listed here in chronological order. Remember that except attending Harvard University for two years from 1897 to 1899 and discontinuing due to illness, he never came anywhere near to completing or even attending a course! They all came to him as recognition of the excellence of his poetry and oration.

M.A. by Amherst and Michigan Universities. D.Litt. by Middlebury, Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Kenyon, Duke, Amherst, Colgate and Windham Colleges, and Yale, New Hampshire, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Marlboro, Durham University, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Oxford, Cambridge, National, Ireland & Ohio State, Syracuse, Tufts and Boston Universities. L.H.D. by Wesleyan, Williams, Bates and Hebrew Union Colleges and Vermont, St. Lawrence, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Miami and Detroit Universities. LL.D. by Dartmouth and Colby Colleges and California, Cincinnati, Florida, Miami and Michigan Universities.

Bloom Books Channel has a video of Stopping By Woods.
 

11. Stopping By Woods Video Title.

Bloom Books Channel has a video of this poem Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. A primitive prototype rendering of this song was made in a crude tape recorder decades earlier, in 1984. In 2014, a home made video of this song was released. In 2015, a third version with comparatively better audio was released. The next version, it's hoped, would be fully orchestrated. It's free for reuse, and anyone interested in can develop and build on it, till it becomes a fine musical video production, to help our little learners and their teachers.

Link to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy6nlrKRH10

Also read the article Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. Robert Frost Poem. Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran.

Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/08-stopping-by-woods-robert-frost.html

First Published on: 12 April 2017

 Article title image by Gerd Altmann. Graphics: Adobe SP.

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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Picture Credits:

01. Robert Frost Portrait 1913 By The New York Times. 
02. Robert Frost Portrait 1917 By Unknown. 
03. Robert Frost Portrait 1941 By Fred Palumbo, for Sun. 
04. Derry Farm Buildings By Grongar. 
05. Derry Farm Building With Sign By Craig Michaud. 
06. Derry Farm Sign By Grongar. 
07. Frost House Brewster Street, Cambridge, Massachusettes By Daderot. 
08. Shaftsburry Stone House, Vermont 1927 By Rolf Müller. 09. Ripton Cabin, Vermont By Aiken1986. 
10. Nobel Prize Dinner 1962 With President Kennedy By Robert Knudsen. 
11. Stopping By Woods Video Title By Bloom Books Channel. 12. Author Profile Of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

Meet the author: About the author and accessing his other literary works.

12. Author Profile of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives.

  
Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of 'Swan, The Intelligent Picture Book'. Edits and owns Bloom Books Channel. Born and brought up in Nanniyode, a little village in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Kerala. Father British Council-trained English Teacher and mother university-educated. Matriculation with High First Class, Pre Degree studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship, discontinued Diploma Studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single. 

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008. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. Robert Frost Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran

008.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. Robert Frost Poem. Appreciation By P. S. Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

By PSRemeshChandra, 19th Mar 2011. Short URL http://nut.bz/eslzz8m7/ First Posted in Wikinut-Reviews>Books-Poetry, Drama, Criticism
Link: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2012/02/08-stopping-by-woods-robert-frost.html
01. Article Title 1 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP.

Nature creates many beauties for man to observe but man, being burdened with the multitude of tasks of running a family, cannot spare his time for sharing the pleasantness nature imbues. In his rush of life he is forced to abandon the easy solaces nature offers which if accepted, would have served as a balm for his mind in flames. Robert Frost's poem ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ shows a glimpse of what treasures man has lost. True, what man forgets first is the beauty of his mother. 

A British poet trained on practical American lines.

 02. Robert Frost Portrait 1913.

Robert Frost was a farmer and poet who had a deep concern for nature. He lived during 1874-1963. ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening’ is his world famous poem which appeals to man's desire to be always be with nature. In the poem we see the poet riding a little horse into a snow falling forest in the evening. His sense of beauty tends him to stay but his dominating sense of duty sends him away. The genius of Frost shuttles between dream and reality and finally lands on immediate reality. Perhaps his long American life might have trimmed him on practical lines. 

Nature's Cynosures are for all the world to see.

03. Whose Woods These Are I Think I Know.

The poet stops by the wood on a snowy evening in winter. He doesn't know who the owner of the forest is. Judging from the fact that there were no signs of any modern constructions to be seen there, he assumes that the owner of the forest might not be a town’s man, but a villager. So far so good. He hopes that the owner will not appear there at that time of heavy snow fall, as he does not wish to be seen tress-passing into private land. Sweet English reserve and shyness! Even though somewhat reluctant to enter a private property, his soul's desire to be with nature tempted him and he entered the forest riding his horse. 

All a winter's work for the squirrels and sparrows to see.

04. All A Winters Work.
 

Nature's benedictions are man's common asset, limited to no one's ownership. She creates her cynosures for all the world to see, through generations and ages. She creates them not exclusively for humans, but anticipating the admiring eyes of the squirrels, sparrows, peacocks and the marsupials also. 

Animal instincts are sharper-tuned to sensing danger than man's.

05. To Watch The Woods Fill Up With Snow.

Snow heavily falling on the trees and rocks and shrubs will form curious images of strange shapes and sizes. The poet plunges deep into observing their beauty and quite forgets the passing of Time. The horse was more danger-conscious and responsive to surroundings than the poet. Have anyone ever heard about an animal that took its own life? It became suspicious. What is this fellow on my back doing? 

Between the woods and frozen lake.

06. Between The Woods And Frozen Lake.

Dangers of an ink-black night are ahead. No farm houses are to be seen anywhere nearby. They are standing between an unfriendly wood and a frozen lake where no one will get shelter and can survive. Man and animal can be lost and frozen in these circumstances. Besides, it is the darkest night of the year that is approaching. Is this man on my back having ideas of suicide? Animal instincts are sharper-tuned to sense danger than man's. So thinking such and such, the horse gave his harness bells a shake to ask his master whether there was any mistake. Actually he was asking his master why they were stopping and staying in that unfavorable atmosphere for long. 

07. Article Title 2 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP.

The Tiny Little Boy with Hay-Ho, the Wind and the Rain.


 
08. Forage is scarce in winter, so a long neck.

The sounds of the horse-bells were heard distinctly against the only other background sound there, the swish-swishing sound of the easily-flowing wind sweeping against the incessantly down-falling snow. The exquisiteness of the description here reminds the readers of another master craftsman. In The Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, there is a little song sung by the clown: 

'When that I was a tiny little boy,
With hay- ho, the wind and the rain.'
 

Everyone knows the wind and the rain, but who is this Mr. Hay-Ho? Critics have long debated who this Hay Ho is. It is very simple. Every little child knows Hay Ho; it is the combined effect of sound caused by wind on the rain personified. When wind blows against a green paddy field and the long lines of grass bow their heads in row after row, Hay Ho is present there. When we walk along a tar road while the rain comes down in torrents and the wind sweeps heavily against the rain, then again we can see Hay Ho on the road, coming towards us and going away from us. Hay Ho is indeed something to a tiny little boy and also for the poets. One is always the other. An exactly similar beauty with words is created here by Frost, in describing in vivid and suggestive words the swish-swishing of the wind and the rain in the snow-filled forest. 

One single line written across the face of Time: How far to go before rest?

09. Miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go.....

The timely sound of his horse-bells roused the master to reality and reminded him of his immediate duties. Thus rightly inspired, the poet continues on his journey, singing those famous lines which made this song immortal. 

'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.'

An admirer of Robert Frost from across the oceans.

10. The woods are lovely, but I have promises to keep.
 

The sleep referred to here is the final sleep. These are lines written across Time, to inspire the world through ages. It is not certain whoever were inspired, excited and intoxicated with these lines. But it is known, the famous author of books such as Glimpses Of World History and The Discovery Of India and the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote them down on his walls to be seen always. 

Bloom Books Channel has a video of this song.

11. Stopping By Woods Video Title. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy6nlrKRH10
 

Bloom Books Channel has a video of this poem Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. A primitive prototype rendering of this song was made in a crude tape recorder decades earlier, in 1984. In 2014, a home made video of this song was released. In 2015, a third version with comparatively better audio was released. The next version, it's hoped, would be fully orchestrated. It's free for reuse, and anyone interested in can develop and build on it, till it becomes a fine musical video production, to help our little learners and their teachers. 

Link to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy6nlrKRH10

Also read the article 'The Life And Works Of Robert Frost Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran'. 

12. Life And Works Of Robert Frost Article.
 

Readers are advised to also read the article The Life And Works Of Robert Frost Reintroduced By P S Remesh Chandran in Sahyadri Books Trivandrum at http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.in/2017/04/073-life-and-works-of-robert-frost.html 

13. Article Title 3 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP.

First Published: 19 March 2011
Last Edited…..: 24 March 2017

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Pictures Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
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Picture Credits:

01. Article Title 1 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP
02. Robert Frost Portrait 1913 By The New York Times
03. Whose woods these are I think I know By Ruhrfisch
04. All a winter's work By Böhringer Friedrich
05. To watch the woods fill up with snow By Adrian Michael
06. Between the woods and frozen lake By Harke
07. Article Title 2 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP
08. Forage scarce in winter, so a long neck By Unknown
09. Miles to go before I sleep By Jim Champion
10. The woods are lovely, but I have promises to keep By John Davies
11. Stopping By Woods Video Title By Bloom Books Channel
12. Life And Works Of Robert Frost Title By Sahyadri Archives
13. Article Title 3 Image & Graphics By Adobe SP
14. Author Profile Of P S Remesh Chandran By Sahyadri Archives

About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran:

14. Author Profile of P. S. Remesh Chandran.

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single. 

Author of several books in English and in Malayalam, mostly poetical collections, fiction, non fiction and political treatises, including Ulsava Lahari, Darsana Deepthi, Kaalam Jaalakavaathilil, Ilakozhiyum Kaadukalil Puzhayozhukunnu, Thirike Vilikkuka, Oru Thulli Velicham, Aaspathri Jalakam, Vaidooryam, Manal, Jalaja Padma Raaji, Maavoyeppoleyaakaan Entheluppam!, The Last Bird From The Golden Age Of Ghazals, Doctors Politicians Bureaucrats People And Private Practice, E-Health Implications And Medical Data Theft, Did A Data Mining Giant Take Over India?, Will Dog Lovers Kill The World?, Is There Patience And Room For One More Reactor?, and Swan, The Intelligent Picture Book. 

Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/psremeshchandra.trivandrum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSRemeshChandra
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+PSRemeshChandran
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bloombooks/videos
Blog: http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/
Site: https://sites.google.com/site/timeuponmywindowsill/
E-Mail: bloombookstvm@gmail.com
Post: P. S. Remesh Chandran, Editor, Sahyadri Books, Trivandrum, Padmalayam, Nanniyode, Pacha Post, Trivandrum- 695562, Kerala State, South India.

Tags
 

American English Poets Poems, Free Student Notes, Literary Articles, Nature Poets, Poem Appreciations Reviews Essays, Robert Frost, P S Remesh Chandran, Sahyadri Books Trivandrum, Stopping By Woods, Winter Poems, 

Comments

Rathnashikamani
31st Mar 2011 (#)

This is again a wonderful appreciation of one of my favorite poets, Robert Frost. I don't think there is anybody in the world who may not admire this great poet. 

PSRemeshChandra
16th Apr 2012 (#)

In every nook and corner of the world, this poet has admirers. But if poets are to be believed, there indeed are people who never admire a poet- the residents of his native village, the people with whom he grew up, played, fought and lived. Anyway it would be hard for a poet for his villagers to admire him and behave in a totally new way. 

NEERAJ BHATT
16th Oct 2011 (#)

This is an apt appreciation of the poem "STOPPING BY WOODS ON A SNOWY EVENING" I read this poem in class 12. It is since then that I got the last stanza remembered for ever. 

PSRemeshChandra
16th Apr 2012 (#)

I too studied it dear Neeraj Bhatt. Thank you for going through the article. 

PSRemeshChandra
16th Oct 2011 (#)

Yes Dear Rathnashikamani,
And Dear Neeraj Bhatt,

Robert Frost wrote wonderful poetry and in my boyhood days I got one very old pocket book sized illustrated edition of a collection of his poems from my father. I still remember the pictures from the book. I very much wished to one day sing his songs exactly like my father did and in my later years I somewhat succeeded in this. Like my father I also had the opportunity to teach a few of his poems. Illustrating his poems is beyond my ability which I tried to augment by incorporating a few good pictures. Thank you both for your ripe opinions. 

Rathnashikamani
17th Oct 2011 (#)

That was really wonderful to know that you've been an admirer of Robert Frost and cherished great memories and desire to sing such a great poet.

I too love his poems. They are such master pieces which must be read carefully and contemplated upon to enjoy them to full extent. 

PSRemeshChandra
17th Oct 2011 (#)

There are thousands who are admirers of Frost but the majority of them are unfortunately unable to sing his poems. First a casual reading, then a few attempts to sing it in fast rhythm, and finally succeeding in actually sing it clarifies the poem and imprints it on our minds more effectively than by reading it a hundred times. It is, I believe, the straight road to understanding, appreciating and enjoying a poem. The more we do this kind of thing without any regard to such awful talentless recordings as made available in Poetry Out Loud, etc, the more an expert we become. It is like unlocking a complex mechanism. Many poems such as those like Tagore's, Matthew Arnold's and T. S. Eliot's have excellent locking mechanisms in them but through perseverance now they are excellent music for me. I perfectly well sing Where The Mind Is Without Fear, Forsaken Merman and Waste Land. Anyone can try. Music is the best means of Instruction. It most often effectively substitutes a teacher. Moreover poems are born out of tunes and are meant to be sung anyway. 

Identifier: SBT-AE-008. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening. Robert Frost Poem. Appreciation By P S Remesh Chandran.

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