Road Not Taken

April is National Poetry Month!

Robert Frost is a favorite poet of mine. In middle school, we had to memorize a poem of a certain length–and I recall being told Shel Silverstein wasn’t an option. I chose “The Road Not Taken.”

There’s always options.
Image from WikiCommons by Ian Balcombe

Here’s a link where you can listen to the poem The Road Not Taken.

The less said about the recitation, the better. I did memorize the poem, at least. Somewhere along the way, I lost bits of the poem. When I tried to recall it a few weeks ago, only fragments emerged from the depths of my memory. That can be fixed–I can relearn it, surely. I saved the link to the recording above on my phone to listen to from time to time.

Soon enough I’ll have it memorized again. It’s an excellent poem to recite to yourself while out walking. Maybe not out loud, though.

And doesn’t it just roll off your tongue? Frost’s poems do–you can read them aloud without stumbling, or feeling the twist of a forced rhyme. He’s one of those poets that makes it appear effortless–which is usually a sign of a great deal of work. Home Burial is another–not exactly a favorite of mine, because it’s very sad–but one that made me admire the skill behind the lines.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I/ I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference.”

-Robert Frost