At both of Frost's homes in New Hampshire we were able walk amongst nature which was something Frost himself cherished. Our last stop on the trip brought us over the Connecticut River into Vermont, the place where Frost considered his home base for the rest of his life. Unfortunately no Frost home in Vermont is opened to the public but there is something else there worth seeing.
The Robert Frost Memorial Trail is just off Route 125 close to the Middlebury College Bread Loaf campus in the Green Mountain National Forest. Poems are placed along the trail as in New Hampshire. It happened that we were the only ones visiting at the time.
Walking there was a peaceful experience and I believe that Frost would have enjoyed this simple but beautiful tribute. We had spent some time wandering through the woods that weekend and I thought of Frost and his relationship to Nature. I pictured him searching for orchids or studying a flower beside a tree. Outside it became clearer why it was so important to him. Frost was able to see the meaning in Nature and translate it into poetry.
The wide trail wanders into the woods and traces a rushing brook through the trees into a clearing that has a full view of the Green Mountains. Here we stopped and spent some time reading his poetry in the open air. Along side the brook we stood staring through the birches to the mountains beyond. It was the perfect setting to enjoy Frost, watching the branches sway back and forth just sitting and staring at the reddish brown field before the Green Mountain background. I thought of the complicated man and poet that he was and how for two days we had traced his steps and traveled his roads and I felt closer to him and his work.
As we headed back to our car the trail forked and I wondered which path we should take. We paused, deciding it didn't matter and that as long as we followed our hearts we would be on the road that would make all the difference.
Francis McGovern is editor and founder of Literary Traveler
Visiting The Frost Trail
The trail is open year round.
Call the Middlebury office of the Green Mountain National Forest for a pamplhet. 802-388-4362
More Robert Frost Articles
Spring Pools and Clock Towers: Robert Frost, Michigan's Poet-in-Residence
Rest Robert Frost
Robert Frost in the Dismal Swamp
The Frost Farm - The Homes and Roads of Robert Frost
The Frost Trail - The Homes and Roads of Robert Frost
The Frost Place - The Home and Roads of Robert Frost
Vermont for Readers
Purchase Ereaders
Buy Robert Frost Ebooks
Travel to Vermont
Get the best Digital Cameras and Travel Cameras
Take an Robert Frost Tour
Visit Historic Hotels in Vermont
Discuss Robert Frost on LiteraryTraveler.net
Advertisement:
