April is National Poetry Month - How Can We Forget Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken?

April brings a flood of memories for me because it's National Poetry Month.

Years ago in sixth grade I had to memorize Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken. It gave me lots to think about. It has remained one of my favorite poems thanks to Mrs. Formby's class. Here's a copy:

The Road Not Taken

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;

The 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 steps had trodden black.
Oh, I marked 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 road diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Then in fourth grade my son had to memorize Jack Prelutsky's Homework - his choice, not the teacher's. It is hilarious and is also a favorite. Here are the first three lines:

Homework! Oh, Homework!

Homework! Oh, Homework!
I hate you! You Stink!
I wish I could wash you away in the sink!

And then there's Ode to Mrs. Hester from my first substitute teaching job at another local school. Yes, fond memories, all!


One poetry website allows you to rate poets and poems by creating an account and I encourage you to read a few poems this month yourself! And read some of the biographies. Apparently Jack Prelutsky hated school and flunked English three times in college. He grew up to be a great poet anyway.