Who: Robert Frost
- born March 26, 1874
- born in San Francisco, California
- sold his first poem in 1894 for $15.00
- famed American poet
- Harvard dropout
- won the Pulitzer Prize four times
- received more than 40 honorary degrees
- age of 86, Frost was called upon to recite a poem for President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration [1]
- died January 29, 1963 (at the age of 88)
- Some of Frost’s most well-known poems include:
- “The Road Not Taken”
- “Birches”
- “Fire and Ice”
- “Mending Wall”
- “Home Burial”
- “The Death of the Hired Man”
- “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”
- “Acquainted with the Night”
- “Out, Out”
- “Nothing Gold Can Stay”
When: On his 80th birthday — Life in three words
What: His life was marked by a good number of personal tragedies . . . .
- at the age of 11, his father died of tuberculosis.
- His mother died of cancer in 1900.
- His sister (Jeanie) was mentally ill and commm=itted to a mental hospital in 1920, and died there nine years later.
- Robert frost suffered from depression.
- His daughter (Irma) was also committed to a mental hospital in 1947.
- His son, Elliot, died of cholera at the age of 4
- His son, Carol, committed suicide.
- His daughter, Elinor, died just a day after birth
Robert Frost was asked . . . .
“In all your years and all your travels, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about life?” [His answer] “It goes on.”
. . . . .
Key Biblical Thoughts:
- eternal life
- salvation
- trials
- tragedy
- meaning / purpose
- Ecclesiastes
- gain the whole world, lose own soul
- riches/poverty
- “the pride of life” — I John 2
. . . .
Sermonic Example:
(Include whatever information from above that you find useful)
Some of us may think that when you have attained great riches, popularity, position, power, or recognition, that it can satisfy the longing of the human heart.
As C.S.Lewis stated . . . .
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
Listen to that illustrated in the life of Robert Frost, one of the great, truly American poets . . .
Other Information & Links:
- President John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration
“At the age of 86, Frost was honored when asked to write and recite a poem for President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration. His sight now failing, he was not able to see the words in the sunlight and substituted the reading of one of his poems, “The Gift Outright,” which he had committed to memory.” — biography
RhetoricAndHomiletics.Org 