When you discover a previously unknown poem that you think could have been authored by Robert Frost, who are you going to call? Robert Faggen.
Faggen, the Barton Evans and H. Andrea Neves Professor of Literature, is a noted expert on the celebrated 20th Century American poet, writing a number of books about Frost, and editing some of his letters and notebooks.
So when a rare book dealer assessing an estate collection came across the ironically titled, “Nothing New” which appeared to be inscribed by Frost inside a copy of the poet’s collection, “North of Boston,” he called Faggen.
Faggen offered to look at a photo of the poem, which was signed “Robert Frost,” and dated, “Amherst 1918.” He was able to confirm that the craggy handwriting was indeed Frost’s, and put the rare book dealer and the book’s owners in touch with Frost’s literary executor, who arranged for “Nothing New” to be published in the New Yorker.
This semester, Faggen is teaching a First-Year Writing Seminar exploring 1950s and 60s literature, and a course focused on the Bible.
He described the discovery as “a delight.”
“It’s very rare to find an unpublished Frost poem because he tended to discard all of his drafts,” Faggen emphasized. “We don’t know for whom he inscribed it, so there’s still a mystery to be solved. Did he give it as a gift? We really don’t know the circumstances under which he decided to write this in one of his own books. However, there are records that indicate that his official biographer Lawrance Thompson knew about the existence of the poem.”
Nevertheless, Faggen feels gratified seeing the newly discovered poem published in the New Yorker’s centennial anniversary issue this week. Read the backstory of Faggen’s involvement.