Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California. When Frost was two years old, his mother fled to Lawrence, Massachusetts, to get away from her husband, who was a drunkard. Frost became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years. He was enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1892, and later at Harvard, but never earned a formal degree.

His first professional poem, "My Butterfly," was published in 1894.

In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White, who became a major inspiration in his poetry until her death in 1938. The couple moved to England in 1912, after their New Hampshire farm failed. By the time Frost returned to the United States in 1915, he had published two full-length collections and his reputation was established. By the nineteen-twenties, he was the most celebrated poet in America.

Frost participated in the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961 by reciting a poems. Yet because the sun and the wind prevented him from reading his new poem, 'The Preface', Frost recited his old poem, 'The Gift Outright', from memory.

Robert Frost lived and taught for many years in Massachusetts and Vermont. He died on January 29, 1963, in Boston.