The President and The Poet



 

It was on January 20th of 1961 when Robert Frost stood on the inauguration platform with President John F. Kennedy and recitedThe Gift Outright.  The Kennedy's had personally invited him to the inauguration and Frost had even gone as far as to write a poem for the special occasion. However, on the inaugural day the sun's reflection off the new fallen snow made it impossible to read the printed text, so the poet opted to share The Gift Outright.

 

On that day, The President of the United States shared a platform with the Poet of the Twentieth Century and the two make for an interesting study in contrast. Consider the following:

 

Privilege and Poverty

 

The President was born into wealth and privilege. He once joked he didn't even know of the Great Depression until he went to college. His father, Joe Kennedy, cashed in all of his stock one day before the Market crashed in 1929. As the nation sank into poverty Kennedy leveraged that  wealth and when the time came positioned himself, as well as, his sons politically. 

 

The Poet however, was born into a very  poor family.  His father died in 1885 leaving his mother with only $8.00 and no way to support their young family. With no other options she relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts and moved in with grandparents.

 

Harvard University

 

Both the President and the Poet enjoyed a relationship with Harvard University. President Kennedy graduated with honers, but the Poet dropped out. In fact he also attended Dartmouth, but dropped out of there also. Unlike the President the Poet never earned a degree. However, during the course of his life Robert Frost received  over forty honorary Doctorates.

 

Words Spoken

 

On that day, The President said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask, what can you do for your country." These words have long sense been edged into the collective memory of a nation. The Poet    once wrote,  "...The woods are lovely dark and deep, but have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep;"  Beautiful words, long ago written- now considered sacred and forever celebrated in the archives American Literature.

 

It becomes obvious that I hold a serious appreciation for the work of  Robert Frost. A number of years ago I was given a signed copy of his second book, North of Boston  dated 1914 which is displayed in my home today.

 

A number of years ago I was asked to speak at a commencement ceremony for a small business college in Soldotna Alaska. I spoke about the contrast between The President and The Poet and challenged the graduates to follow their dreams.

 

For mor information on the life and work of Robert Frost click on this link and watch the video. It's the best conversational lecture I've ever heard on the life and work of the poet. Mike Braziller and Ed Hirsch do an excellent job of delving into the dark side of Robert Frost.

 

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