October

“October” is a pastoral poem written by American poet Robert Frost. It was first published in London in 1913 and later in the United States in 1915 as part of his first book of collected poems, A Boy’s Will. Appearing as one of the final poems of that collection, “October” deals with the themes of death, passage of time, and nature—themes that were particularly relevant to Frost as he entered into middle age at the time of publication. Frost began to achieve major recognition and publishing success in his 40s, which is roughly the time A Boy’s Will was released.

Of A Boy’s Will, the prolific modernist poet Ezra Pound remarked, “[Frost] has the tang of the New Hampshire woods, and it has just this utter sincerity. It is not post-Miltonic or post-Swinburnian or post Kiplonian. This man has the good sense to speak naturally and to paint the thing, the thing as he sees it” (“Robert Frost.” Poetry Foundation). While Frost’s career occurred in tandem with modernism, he was not closely aligned with any one school or literary movement; however, the imagists championed his earlier work thus cementing his footing as an emerging poet in England and the United States.