An Introduction To Poetry “Contents “Robert Frost! 3 “Nothing Gold Can Stay! 4 “Gwendolyn Brooks! 5 “We real Cool! 6 In order to access the enhanced media contained in this and other handouts, please consult the website: www.cianhogan.com “Robert Frost Robert Frost is one of the most important American poets of the twentieth century. He was born on the 26th of March 1874 and died on the 29th of January, 1963. Although he was unknown for the first forty years of his life he eventually became very famous. His poems concentrate on the landscapes, language and experiences of America. His determination to weave poetry out of everyday experience distinguishes him from most other poets of his time. His poems are honest, open and autobiographical, so much so that Frost never really tired of retelling the story of his own life. Frost insisted that poetry have a definite form, that it be dramatic and that it rely on voice tones to vary the effect of its rhythms. ______ 3 ______ “Nothing Gold Can Stay Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf, So Eden sank to grief, 5 So dawn goes down to day Nothing gold can stay. ______ 4 ______ “Gwendolyn Brooks Poet Gwendolyn Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas, on June 7, 1917. Brooks moved to Chicago at a young age. She began writing and publishing as a teenager, eventually achieving national fame for her 1945 collection “A Street in Bronzeville”. In 1950 Brooks became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize, for her book Annie Allen. She died in her Chicago home on December 3, 2000. ______ 5 ______ “We real Cool The Pool Players. Seven at the Golden Shovel. We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon. ______ 6 ______.