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Robert Frost, a poet of New England, has been praised for being many things from that of a pure and simple nature poet to that of an existentialist. The main aim of this study is to view Frost as a modern poet. The study traces the development of Modern American Poetry which begins with poetry of the Puritan days to that of the modernist period. Frost´s thematic concerns which range from the simplest nature poems to those which deal with more complex issues such as man´s alienation and isolation in a world which fails to respond to his needs and man´s conflict with his neighbours as well as within himself are also focused in the study. Much of the ambiguity over Frost´s place in American literature is largely due to his style which is seemingly traditional but a deeper analysis would reveal his originality in employing these conventional modes. These aspects of his style will be examined here. The study concludes by reiterating Frost´s place in modern American literature through the analysis of the background of his material, the environment and the characters as well as the fidelity of speech which is artistically brought into his poetry.

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Saroja Dhanapal : PhD (TESL) University Putra Malaysia, LLM University of Malaya, MA (Lit) University of Malaya, LLB (HONS) University of London, BA (HONS) (Lit) University of Malaya, Cert. in Education. Seri Kota Teachers´ Training College. Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Language and Linguistics, University of Malaya.

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