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Combining the fascinating history of hand compasses with the poetry and life of Robert Frost, this mini brass compass tells a story of life and the roads taken, on a nautical tool that has been used for centuries to guide the way. Born in San Francisco in 1874, and growing up in Massachusetts, Robert Frost became known for his elegant poems of life in the countryside, winning four Pulitzer prizes for poetry in his life. He left his studies at Harvard after being married, taking nine years to work the farm his grandfather bought for his young family, and spending much of his time writing the poems that would become his legacy. In 1912 he and his family sailed across the Atlantic, settling into England before returning to the states at the onset of World War I. For the next 42 years Frost taught at various universities throughout the New England, earning multiple honorary degrees from prestigious universities, and on January 20, 1961 he gave a wonderful reading of his work for President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. These brass compasses are the perfect gift for the nautical enthusiast in your life, each mini brass compass both a symbol and a written reminder of the paths we take through life. As Frost wrote, in such beautiful simplicity, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Take the road less traveled, discover the magnificence of life for yourself, and let these brass compasses be your guide.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,   

And sorry I could not travel both   

And be one traveler, long I stood   

And looked down one as far as I could   

To where it bent in the undergrowth;           

Then took the other, as just as fair,   

And having perhaps the better claim,   

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;   

Though as for that the passing there   

Had worn them really about the same,           

And both that morning equally lay   

In leaves no step had trodden black.   

Oh, I kept the first for another day!   

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,   

I doubted if I should ever come back.           

I shall be telling this with a sigh   

Somewhere ages and ages hence:   

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—   

I took the one less traveled by,   

And that has made all the difference.