The Poetry in Motion film series, created by award-winning filmmaker Donald Tongue, is a collection of film adaptations of Robert Frost’s narrative poems. Through visual storytelling, Donald brings a unique perspective to Frost’s poems, focusing on the poet’s extraordinary talents in creating a dramatic narrative. In addition to presenting his latest film in the series, “The Death of the Hired Man,” he will also share his process of adapting Frost’s work and discuss how well the verse lends itself to the medium of film.

In 1914 North of Boston, the book that would soon bring Frost to public attention, came out in London. In 1923 Frost published his fourth book, New Hampshire, and within months it would win him the first of four Pulitzer Prizes. Opening this fourth volume is a long poem, also titled “New Hampshire,” at once polemical, biographical, and digressive. At its end, Frost declares himself “a plain New Hampshire farmer,” while pointing out a lucrative retainer from his New York publisher and quietly adding that he is now “living in Vermont” (where he has joined a growing community of literary notables). In this talk, Frost scholar David Sanders will consider what in Frost might help us understand the tensions, if not contradictions, involved here. What might help to explain his ongoing attachment to New Hampshire and the values he ascribes to it?

While it makes spoken words sing like sauntering music, the poetry of Robert Frost also educates us about New England farming at the start of the 20th century. (Hint: It was hard.) In celebration of both New England history and Robert Frost’s poetry, author and poet Jeffrey Zygmont recites a selection of Frost’s poems about farming. Frost’s expressive and much-loved poetry helps us appreciate the rigorous demands of farm life in our region a century ago. Recited from memory, each poem is accompanied by commentary about its artistic beauty, about the experiences and emotions it expresses, plus background on Frost that gives us insight into the poem’s origin and intention. The program includes a summary of Frost’s life. This lively discussion and recital of some of Robert Frost’s best poems is a celebration of both New Hampshire farming and Robert Frost’s unique gift for capturing it in poetry.

Bring all your old and interesting antiques in for appraisal by one of our trustees, Herc Pappachristos! Herc is an accredited antiques appraiser with the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers association. The fee is $5 per item or set of items; all proceeds will go to supporting the Robert Frost Farm.

Rick Holmes will close out the 2025 summer series with a relaxed, informal and entertaining talk on Robert Frost, schoolteacher. Rick’s presentation will center on the years 1906-1907 when Frost taught English at Pinkerton Academy. His talk will explore and explode many of the false myths which are included in many biographies on how he was maligned by his students and universally disliked by his fellow teachers. In truth, Frost was a very popular teacher and by-and-large a respected faculty member. Rick bases much of his research on the memories of more than 60 locals who attended or taught at the Academy during the Frost years.