By Anna R. Myers
In a majority of Robert Frost’s poems he writes about nature, the sublime, and mixed into that are also explorations of religion. Despite growing up and living surrounded by religion Frost was believed to have mostly rejected religious beliefs to the point that he is often seen as a man who had no religious beliefs, though this is still debated to this day as more imformation about his life is revealed. This led him to be very critical of religion and this criticism shows up not just in his life, but also in his poetry. While writing about death and the sublime Frost looks at religion through a critical lens that is rare to find in very religious Boston Massachusetts, where he had grown up and lived. Though Frost was often publicly quiet about his religious beliefs, to the point that his beliefs are still debated to this day, he had some very distinct opinions on it.
Though Frost’s religious views are mostly a mystery, or seen through a veil of cynicism, there has been recent writings of his to come out that give a bit more information about his beliefs. In about 2013 a collection of Frost’s letters, photographs, and recordings were donated to the State University of New York in Buffalo that, by Jonathan Reichert, son of family friend Victor Reichert (Nealon). In the documents Victor Reichert talked briefly about how Frost created his poems, but he also touched on the religious aspect, Frost had considered himself an “Old Testament Christian” which effectively meant Frost was Jewish in Reichert’s eyes (“Rare”). Reichert himself was a Rabbi, and he stated that he and Frost spent long hours talking about religion, or more specifically Frost would talk about it while Reichert listened (Nealon). Frost even gave sermon at a Temple in Cincinnati at Reichert’s request at one point (Nealon). All of this is what really solidified to Reichert that Frost was Jewish, even if Frost used a different name for his beliefs. Of course, these relatively new documents have not completely convinced literary scholars of Frost’s religiousness, or lack thereof, mostly due to Frosts own hesitation to claim any specific, set religion as his own.
Aside from just the new information that became public in 2013, there is also Frost’s family connection to religion. Growing up Frost was raised in a very religious community with a very religious mother, and a highly educated father who was not religious at all (Parini). The specific denomination of Christianity that his mother took him to was a Swedenborgian Church (Parini). This denomination of Chrisitanity was founded by Emanuel Swedenborg who was originally a scientist, but one day started having dreams about heaven and God, so he founded his religion (“Swedenborgian”). One important aspect of this denomination is that it teaches that people do not get to heaven based on religious belief, it teaches that as long as people are good people and act on good intentions then they will get into heaven, whether or not they believe in God and Jesus (“Swedenborgian”). Though Frost did not continue to follow the teachings of the Swedenborgian Church, those beliefs, along with the ones he had later in life, really carried on through his poetry.
Frost has a huge collection of poems, some of them focus more on simply the ideas of nature, some on death, but some have a more outward religious leaning than just what can be gleaned from the ideas of the sublime. The first poem goes deeply into the ideas of the sublime with its rich descriptions of nature, and the power of nature, it is titled “Astrometaphysical” (Frost 388). This short poem has a lot going on in regards to religious interpretation, it starts off by the speaker directly talking to God and telling him how much they love the sky. It continues with the speaker saying that they love the sky no matter what is happening, even if it is storming, or making the speaker stumble, they will continue to stare up at the sky in wonder. This poem takes a darker turn at the end when the speaker seems to be saying that they hope their love for the sky will send them to heaven and not hell. In this poem Frost is comparing the sky to heaven, and how his love for all of the heavens, or different forms the sky takes, should be rewarded. This poem relates to the Swedenborgian church that Frost was raised in because it brings in the ideas of actions, not inherently beliefs, leading to a person’s entrance to heaven. The action in this poem is the speaker loving the sky, however, there also seems to be a concern from the speaker in the poem of if they actually will get into heaven or not. This part of the poem is both showing Frosts history with religion, as well as his hesitation as to if it is true or not. This is one of Frosts very literal poems about religion and heaven, but he has many more that are more subtle.
A poem that is more subtle about its religious context is one of Frost’s early poems titled “Revelation,” on the surface this poem seems like it is all about children playing a game of hide and seek, but on a deeper level it is about people lying to each other and the consequences of doing so (Frost 19). This poem relates to the ideas of religion because it can be read as if the lying being a sin that the liar has to confess to God. With the title “Revelation” this could be referring to Revelation as in the book of the bible where everyone has to face their sins before they enter heaven or it could be referring to the revelation of learning that someone is lying. Either way is an interpretation that still has aspects of religion in it in the ideas of confessing the sin of lying.
Frost uses both the ideas of the sublime, and the ideas of death in his poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” though this is a small poem it is packed with religious symbolism (Frost 222). This poem is first off, a very visual poem, it describes the beauty of the natural world through leaves, flowers, and the setting sun, it might only be read as describing the natural world if it were to not include the mention of Eden. With the poem mentioning Eden it adds an additional layer to the poem, as if everything beautiful being described can be compared to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This comparison can be made because just like a gold leaf, Adam and Eve were in a perfect, beautiful state before they ate the fruit, so they were perfect “But only so an hour.” Overall this poem is looking at the comparisons between the beauty of the natural world and how sad it is that it has to fade, and the perfection of Adam and Eve had before they sinned for the first time. An interesting dynamic is added to this poem if it is true that Frost was Jewish, or Old Testament Christian as Frost said, because there is no inherent redemption with Jesus that comes after the sin, but he was also raised to believe that all good people will end up in heaven despite what they believe. Both of these facts change this poem slightly because it changes how sad the poem really is, Adam and Eve could be doomed because there is no savior yet, or in a type of purgatory as the idea of hell did not exist in the Jewish faith, or they could be saved by being good people from then on out. It relates because the speaker knows that the plants will grow back just as beautiful next year, and the sun will set again.
All of Frost’s poetry could be compared to religion in some way or another, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is all about death and the peaceful acceptance of it, “Take Something Like a Star” is about the incomprehensible beauty of nature, and there are many more (Frost 224, 403). All of his poems have varying degrees of the themes of religion mixed in them with other themes. Frost had an interesting life, and a fascinating relationship to religion throughout all of it and it is clearly visible throughout his poetry. As religion was something that Frost struggled with his whole life that struggle is evident when he writes, poems about the beauty of nature are also exploring what God created, and poems about death are about what God takes away. There are also poems that are directly about religion that switch between a happy, if nervous, acceptance, to a complete rejection entirely. The addition of the new information about Frost’s connection to religion also changes his poems simply by how they are taught. For years his poetry has been taught as if it is exploring religion in almost exclusively as a way of rejecting it, but with more information about the ways in which he accepted and even participate in religion it changes his poems from overly cautious of religion to almost curious of it. Overall, Frost’s complicated and ever changing relationship with religion play directly into his poetry and how it is read by viewers depending on what they know about the history.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. The Poetry of Robert Frost: the Collected Poems. Edited by Edward Connery. Lathem, Henry Holt, 1969.
Nealon, Cory. “Rare Collection of Robert Frost Materials Emerges, Could Shed Light on Poet’s Religious Views.” Rare Collection of Robert Frost Materials Emerges, Could Shed Light on Poet’s Religious Views — University at Buffalo, 18 Jan. 2013, www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2013/01/015.html#targetText=Frost%20never%20made%20his%20beliefs,was%20marred%20by%20family%20loss.
Parini, Jay. “Listening for God in Unusual Places: The Unorthodox Faith of Robert Frost.” America Magazine, 28 Feb. 2013, www.americamagazine.org/issue/listening-god-unusual-places.
“Rare Robert Frost Collection Surfaces 50 Years After His Death.” NPR, NPR, 29 Jan. 2013, www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170474762/rare-robert-frost-collection-surfaces-50-years-after-his-death.
“Swedenborgian Home.” Swedenborgian Church, 20 Mar. 2019, swedenborg.org/.
