Man of letters …

… My Own Desert Places: On “The Letters of Robert Frost, Volume 3: 1929–1936”. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… this third volume “is to a greater degree than previous volumes about the Frost family — about Robert and Elinor’s children and grandchildren, their aspirations, their successes and setbacks.” The most tragic event is the 1934 death from puerperal fever of the Frosts’ youngest daughter. Perhaps the most moving communication in the whole book is the telegram sent to his eldest daughter: “NO MORE MARJORIE IN THIS WORLD EXCEPT MEMORIES.” But even leaving aside this tragedy, the impression given by many of these letters is of a constant battle against illnesses, both minor and serious. The Frosts’ movements in these years are often dictated by health concerns. “I am also,” Frost writes, “a resorter northward for hayfever and southward for influenza.” In another letter he reports: “Next we are going to Colorado to see for ourselves if Marjorie’s tuberculosis is getting subdued by the climate. Marjorie has tuberculosis and so has Lillian. Carol [his son] will move to California for Lillian’s health.