HENRY HART is currently the Mildred and J. B. Hickman Professor of Humanities at the College of William and Mary, and Poet Laureate of Virginia. He has published several books of literary criticism about modern poets, including The Poetry of Geoffrey Hill (1986), Seamus Heaney: Poet of Contrary Progressions (1991), Robert Lowell and the Sublime (1995), and James Dickey: The World as a Lie (2000).

Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations and Author's Note xi
1. The New England Frosts 1
2. Rebel Sons and Punitive Fathers 8
3. Strong Man's Food and Swedenborgian Mysticism 18
4. "A Boy's Will is the Wind's Will" 26
5. Reluctant Yankees 39
6. Monuments to After-thought 55
7. "Precipitate in Love" 64
8. Adventures in the Great Dismal Swamp 80
9. From Riffraff to Harvard 93
10. Deaths of a Son and a Hired Man 104
11. Indoor and Outdoor Schooling 121
12. Hen Man in the Academy 134
13. To the Land of The Golden Treasury 148
14. The Lively Gallows 167
15. Victory at Home 180
16. Amherst Interval 202
17. Sense and Sensibility 217
18. A Home that Never Was on Land or Sea 230
19. Something beyond Conflict 240
20. Delivering Battle 251
21. Weddings, Divorces, and Funerals 261
22. A Survivalist's Further Range 278
23. Elinor's Final Ordeal 294
24. Inferno to Vita Nuova 302
25. A Biblical Job by a Witness Tree 320
26. Mercy for the Damned 332
27. Mr Frost Goes to Washington 344
28. A Brief Shining Moment with the Kennedys 361
29. Last Act on the Global Stage 376
Notes 390
Bibliography 415
Index 423

The Life of Robert Frost presents a unique and rich approach to the poet that includes original genealogical research concerning Frost s ancestors, and a demonstration of how mental illness plagued the Frost family and heavily influenced Frost s poetry. A widely revealing biography of Frost that discusses his often perplexing journey from humble roots to poetic fame, revealing new details of Frost s life Takes a unique approach by giving attention to Frost s genealogy and the family history of mental illness, presenting a complete picture of Frost s complexity Discusses the traumatic effect on Frost of his father s early death and the impact on his poetry and outlook Presents original information on the influence of his mother s Swedenborgian mysticism