[3] At the age of 16 he began writing Russian poetry and was first published in 1880 in the Russophone Jewish magazine Razsvet (ru) ("Dawn").

[4] The following year he moved to St. Petersburg, where he became a prominent literary figure[5] and began publishing regularly, albeit often under a pseudonym.

His 1882 Legend of the Goblet won an important prize and, when translated into Yiddish by Isaac Leib Peretz, the song reached an international audience.

He preferred folk themes and used light verses to express the suffering of people[6] and the tragedy of Jewish homelessness.

[2] Various cities in Israel have commemorated Frug by naming a street for him, including Tel Aviv, Haifa, Holon, Kfar Saba, Ramat Gan and Netanya.