> two parallel but separate levels: one, the corncob bard of Yankee wisdom who appears on t-shirts and mugs: the other, the critic’s darling who is “bleak, dark

> two parallel but separate levels: one, the corncob bard of Yankee wisdom who appears on t-shirts and mugs: the other, the critic’s darling who is “bleak, dark, complex, and manipulative.” This is the genius of Frost. You can read Fire and Ice in elementary school, when you're just figuring out what a poet is, and you get it. Then you can read him again in college and see a whole new level underneath what you thought you understood. Both levels are there on purpose. Both are valid.