Robert Frost's Visionary Gift: Mining and Minding the Wonder of Unexpected Supply

William F. Zak's book "Robert Frost's Visionary Gift: Mining and Minding the Wonder of Unexpected Supply" offers a groundbreaking analysis of Frosts lyrics, considering each poem as integral to his singular "constellation of intention." It explores how Frosts pastoral mode is a self-conscious determination to assume the mantle of his predecessors, representing a constructive means to address lifes struggles. Zak's study reconfirms Frost as the "first American poet who could be honestly reckoned a master poet by world standards."

Format: Hardback
Length: 422 pages
Publication date: 26 January 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

In his groundbreaking work, "Robert Frost's Visionary Gift: Mining and Minding the Wonder of Unexpected Supply," William F. Zak delves into the depths of Robert Frost's lyrical genius, offering a comprehensive analysis of over one hundred of his poems. Beyond a mere biography, this book provides extended and intricate readings of Frosts entire oeuvre, culminating in a compelling case built from meticulously examined details.

Zak explores the pastoral mode that Frost adopts, revealing it to be far from a depleted, homespun idiom retreating from the complexities of modernism. Instead, it emerges as a self-conscious determination to assume the mantle of his predecessors, such as Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Emerson, and Thoreau, who are so central to the pastoral inheritance guiding Frost's thought. Frosts version of pastoral is not an escape from the stresses of life, but rather a constructive and life-sustaining means to confront life's struggles head-on. As Frost famously declared, it is to "take life by the throat" in song, to see what we are made of.

A revaluation of Frosts major lyrics, this book makes a compelling case for Frost as the preeminent philosophical poet of America. It challenges the unfortunate perception that he was merely an ironic and equivocal anecdotalist, which has relegated his work to the second tier of the modernist poetic pantheon. Frosts ambition was never disparately occasional or self-protectively detached; for him, poetry must strive to understand the entirety of the world, or it holds no value.

Through his illuminations, both of mind and heart, Zak grants us a glimpse into a graced re-source-fullness that abounds within us. This re-source-fullness grants us our place among infinities, illuminating our existence with a sense of significance. Even though our illuminations may be mere "specks," they remain "considerable," evidence of a graced abundance that resides within us.

In the darkness within, we are free to "make snug in the infinite" and find solace amidst the vastness of the universe. Frosts poetry serves as a guide, illuminating our path and reminding us of the beauty and wonder that exists in the world around us. Through his visionary gift, Frost invites us to mine the unexpected supply of wonder and embrace the fullness of life.

Weight: 735g
Dimension: 228 x 161 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793638298