Pay your respects to Robert Frost at his grave in Bennington

Each year many people visit a small town in the southwestern corner of Vermont to pay homage to Robert Frost. Frost is buried in Bennington. The mountain hamlet is quite charming upon first impression. The 306-foot tall Battle of Bennington Monument commandeers the eye and dominates the skyline. The massive stone obelisk commemorates the 1777 Battle of Bennington during the American Revolution.

In Bennington, when two roads diverge, one leads to the monument, and the other leads to the Old First Congressional Church, which is the famed poet Robert Frost’s final resting place. 

Thousands of esthetes pilgrimage to the more than two-hundred-year-old church to pay their respects to Frost. Many pay respects by reciting their favorite Frost prose and are reminded, “Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.” 

For some, the visit is short. For others, it’s a longer spiritual experience as they try to connect with the poet. Robert Frost passed away in January 1963. Two decades prior, he wrote his epitaph in a poem titled “The Lesson for Today.” The last verse reading:

“I hold your doctrine of Memento Mori

And were an epitaph to be my story,

I’d have a short one ready for my own.

I would have written of me on my stone:

I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.”

True to his pen, those words are written on his tombstone. 

Frost’s poems mean so many different things to so many people. For us, the love of nature inspired us to visit. There are fond memories of sitting around a campfire reading Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, The Road Not Taken, Birches, Acquainted with the Night, Mending Wall, and many others. 

Other things to do in Bennington, Vermont

No matter your reason, visiting Frost’s grave is undoubtedly worth your time. While you are in the area, many other things nearby may catch your attention. Robert Frost’s Stone House Museum is on the campus of Bennington College. Of course, the Bennington Monument and just across the New York line Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site are worth a visit. There is excellent hiking nearby in the Green Mountain National Forest, and you can hop on the Appalachian Trail just a few miles out of town.