Poem: The Road Not Taken

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;

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.

                               -Robert Frost

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Poem: Try, Try Again

                                                                  Try, Try Again

                                                      'Tis a lesson you should heed,

                                                                  Try, try again;

                                                       If at first you don't succeed,

                                                                  Try, try again;

                                                      Then your courage should appear,

                                                      For, if you will persevere,

                                                      You will conquer, never fear;

                                                                  Try, try again.

                                                                                    - T. H. Palmer

The phrase try, try again is well known around the world. We use it so casually when at first we don't succeed. Though the title or phrase is well known, did you know the rest of the poem. I certainly didn't. There is a great lesson within this short, yet powerful poem. Whatever your struggling with today, please try again and push your fear of failure aside. PERSEVERE! 

Poem: Hold Fast Your Dreams

Hold Fast Your Dreams

Hold fast your dreams!
Within your heart
Keep one, still, secret spot
Where dreams may go,
And sheltered so,
May thrive and grow-
Where doubt and fear are not.
O, keep a place apart,
Within your heart,
For little dreams to go!

Think still of lovely things that are not true,
Let wish and magic work at will in you.
Be sometimes blind to sorrow. Make believe!
Forget the calm that lies
In disillusioned eyes.
Though we all know that we must die,
Yet you and I
May walk like gods and be
Even now at home in immortality!

We see so many ugly things-
Deceits and wrongs and quarrelings;
We know, alas! we know
How quickly fade
The color in the west,
The bloom upon the flower,
The bloom upon the breast
And youth's blind hour.
Yet, keep within your heart
A place apart
Where little dreams may go,
May thrive and grow.
Hold fast- hold fast your dreams!
                                      -Louise Driscoll

This is a beautiful poem by Louise Driscoll. I enjoy reading it over and over again. The book "A Child's Anthology of Poetry" is one of my best purchases to date. Every time I read a poem from this book, whether it be the first time or 5th, I reflect on it differently. Poems are supposed to have an emotional effect on you. They surely do. Many of the poems in the book are for children, but as you read this poem, I think you'd agree that it's aimed for adults as well. Much like the other poems, adults will interpret them differently and find deeper meaning within each one. I hope this poem finds your heart as it did mine.