While references to the "farmer poet," the "Yankee bard," and the "poet of New England" are now commonplace [in describing Frost], the exact significance of such terms remains obscure. (p. 4)
Despite a wealth of local lore, popular stereotypes, and scholarship in the area, we only have to sample a small portion of the material on Frost to realize that the region's fundamental character and its literary tradition are much in dispute. (p. 5)
