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 the 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.
Death in Robert Frost's life...
1885 - Father dies of tuberculosis on May 5, leaving family with only $8 after expenses are paid. Family moves to Lawrence, Mass. to live with grandparents. Robert and Jeanie dislike grandparents' sternness and rigorous discipline. Enters third grade after testing, while younger sister enters fourth grade.
1900 - Son Elliott dies of cholera on July 8 and is buried in Lawrence. Elinor suffers sever depression. Frost's heath declines. Mother enters sanatorium in Penacook, NH. Mother dies of cancer on November 2 and is buried in Lawrence.
1901 - Reads Thoreau's Walden for the first time. Grandfather William Prescott Frost dies on July 10; his will gives Frost a $500 annuity and use of the Derry farm for ten years, after which the annuity is to be increased to $800 and Frost is to be given ownership of the farm.
1907 - Daughter Elinor Bettina is born on June 18, and dies on June 21.
1910 - Revises English curriculum for the Pinkerton Academy and develops program emphasizing an informal, conversational teaching style. He writes in the school catalog: "The general aim of the course in English is twofold: to bring our students under the influence of the great books, and to teach them the satisfactions of superior speech." Father-in-law dies May 26.
1917 - Moves to Amherst in January. A Way Out, a one act play, is published. Deeply grieved by the death of Edward Thomas (E.T.), killed during the battle of Arras. Teaching position at Amherst is extended. Lesley enters Wellesley College.
1929 - Permits Marjorie to begin nursing school. Sister Jeanie dies in state mental hospital in August, Maine in early September. Frost and Elinor move into farm they purchased in South Shaftsbury.
1930 - Collected Poem published in November. Elected in the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Visits Marjorie who has been hospitalized in Baltimore with tuberculosis.
1934 - Marjorie develops puerperal fever after daughter is born in March, dies May 2 and is buried in Billings.Daughter is taken care of by Carol and his wife Lillian. Elinor suffers severe attach of angina pectoris in November. Under doctor orders, Frost and Elinor go to Key West in December.
1938 - Elinor dies of heart failure in Gainesville, Florida March 20. Frost collapses and is unable to attend cremation. Resigns position at Amherst College and returns to South Shaftsbury. Asks Kathleen Morrison to marry him; she refuses.
1940 - Undergoes surgery for hemorrhoids. Health improves and purchases five acres of land in South Miami. Tries to talk his son, whose long-standing depression and suspiciousness have become more acute since Elinor's death, out of his suicidal thoughts. Returns to Boston thinking crisis is over and is horrified when Carol commits suicide with a deer-hunting rifle on October 9.
1946 - Daughter Irma's mental condition deteriorates.
1951 - Due to worsening eyesight, now often recites poems from memory. Has cancerous lesion removed from upper right side of his face.
1962 - Fall seriously ill with pneumonia and is hospitalized in South Miami in February. Undergoes prostrate operation in December. Doctors find cancer in his prostate and bladder. Suffers pulmonary embolism on December 23.
