Robert Francis (August 12, 1901; Upland, Pennsylvania – July 13, 1987) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who lived most of his life in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

. His 1953 poem, “The Pitcher”, is a classic work among coaches, athletes, baseball players —- and pitchers and artists. It demonstrates brilliantly an example of how any physical action is not just acting on the environment, but also an interactive communication with all elements of it, including the people.

Life

Robert Francis was born on August 12, 1901 in Upland, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Harvard University in 1923. He would later attend the Graduate School of Education at Harvard where he once said that he felt that he'd come home. He lived in a small house he had built for himself in 1940, which he called Fort Juniper, near Cushman Village in

. Francis chose to name his home "Fort Juniper" since juniper is nearly indestructible. His main poetic mentor was

Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost (March26, 1874January29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States. Known for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloq ...

, and indeed Francis's first volume of poems, ''Stand Here With Me'' (1936), displays a poetic voice reminiscent of Frost's own in carefully crafted nature poems. However, his second book of poetry ''Valhalla and Other Poems'' was awarded with the 1939 Shelley Memorial Award. Frost once said: "poetry is the only acceptable way to say one thing and mean another."

Later work

Francis published very little during the 1940s–1950s. He decided that "for better or worse, I was a poet and there was really nothing else for me to do but go on being a poet. It was too late to change even if I had wanted to. Poetry was my most central, intense and inwardly rewarding experience." In 1960, Francis published ''The Orb Weaver,'' which revived his reputation as a poet. Francis uses hidden meanings in his poems, which suggest another way that Frost made an impression on Francis's poetry. In later volumes, Francis found a voice distinctively his own, relaxed in

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

and characterized by

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s, word-plays,

slant rhyme Slant can refer to: Bias *Bias or other non- objectivity in journalism, politics, academia or other fields Technical * Slant range, in telecommunications, the line-of-sight distance between two points which are not at the same level * Slant ...

s, and repetitions of key words. Aside from one long narrative poem in Frostian

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th century", and P ...

, Francis's poetry consists largely of concise lyrics, somewhat limited in thematic range but intensely crafted and deeply personal. Frost would later say that Robert Francis was America's best neglected poet. His poems often regard nature, and exhibit a distinct imagistic quality to them in representing the essence of the natural world. Also, the poems he wrote about baseball are perennial classics in that they are memorable. His autobiography, ''The Trouble with Francis,'' was published in 1971 and details his struggle with neglect. Francis died July 13, 1987.

Awards

Francis won the

Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is ...

in 1939. In 1984 the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...

gave Francis its award for distinguished poetic achievement.Perkins, p. 320

Works

Poetry

* * * * * * * * *http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/robert-francis/thoreau-in-italy/

Autobiography

References

* The Friendship of

and Robert Francis: High-pressure Weather and Country Air by

Wally Swist Wally Swist (born 1953) is an American poet and writer. He is best known for his poems about nature and spirituality. Biography Swist was born April 26, 1953, in New Haven, Connecticut. It is rumoured he attended Yale University but not confir ...

(Puckerbrush Press, Constance Hunting, Editor, Orono, ME: Puckerbrush Review, xxi, ii, Winter/Spring 2003). * The Friendship of Two New England Poets: Robert Frost and Robert Francis, A Lecture Presented at the Robert Frost Farm in Derry, New Hampshire, by

Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2009.

External links

"A Poet's Voice Rises from the Archives", ''All Things Considered'', April 1, 2007, NPR

at Syracuse University

at University of Massachusetts, Amherst

in Special Collections,

Jones Library The Jones Library of Amherst, Massachusetts is a public library with three locations, the main building and two branches. The library was established in 1919 by a fund set up in the will of lumberman Samuel Minot Jones. The library is governe ...

, Amherst, Massachusetts
Poetry reading by Robert Francis, May 20, 1971 (audio)

"April - Robert Francis: Poetry and Song"
with Henry Lyman and Judy Polan. Poetry and retrospective of Robert Francis. Videotaped at Jones Library, Amherst, MA. 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Robert 1901 births 1987 deaths People from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Poets from Pennsylvania Writers from Amherst, Massachusetts Poets from Massachusetts 20th-century American poets Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni