Auden has an essay on Frost that I like. Here’s how it ends:
Hardy, Yeats, and Frost have all written epitaphs for themselves.
Hardy
I never cared for life, life cared for me.
And hence I owe it some fidelity…Yeats
Cast a cold eye
On life and death.
Horseman, pass by.Frost
I would have written of me on my stone
I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.Of the three, Frost, surely, comes off best. Hardy seems to be stating the Pessimist’s Case rather than his own feelings. I never cared… Never? Now, Mr. Hardy, really! Yeats’ horseman is a stage prop; the passer-by is much more likely to be a motorist. But Frost convinces me that he is telling neither more nor less than the truth about himself. And, when it comes to wisdom, is not having a lover’s quarrel with life more worthy of Prospero than not caring or looking coldly?
I realize looking over this that it’s not clear that any of those are necessarily on any of the poets’ headstones. Still, I thought I’d mention it. If only because I like the essay.
One response to “Auden has an essay on Frost that I like.”
I like your choice. Could you tell me where I could find Auden’s essay on Frost? I originally saw it referenced in an essay by Joseph Brodsky. Thanks a lot.