Assignment 6 – Dilni Abeyrathne

Remember “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost? Remember the depth of those poetic verses? Remember what emotions it evoked? Most of all, do you remember where it took you? As you may have guessed already, poetry is a subject that commands a significant amount of my attention, whether it be a Haiku, a limerick, or a simple versed poem. Poetry signifies a land which I can visit from time to time and explore new adventures. Unlike books, which are fantastic in their own way, poems are magical: sometimes arcane, sometimes exotic, sometimes plain simple.

My love for reading and writing poetry began several years ago, when I was a small child. Alas, I don’t remember those days particularly well, but I do remember the year that was the beginning of my journey through the land of poetry. Fifth grade was that fateful year. We were learning about the slave trade in my class and as an activity, our writing teacher had us write poems about the event, in any way we saw fit. I did as I was told, but was not overly enthusiastic, or confident in that matter, of my poetry skills. However, that all changed in the spring, when I discovered that my poem, along with those of two other classmates, had been published in an anthology. I was elated! My poem, published? How? I was thoroughly surprised. How could my poem, which I clearly didn’t have confidence in, become published?

From then on, my interest and involvement in poetry exploded. I began to write poems much more frequently, about the various ideas that flew into my mind. After that fateful year in fifth grade, I began to send my poetry to the anthology, hoping for publication. My wishes were fulfilled: five of my poems have been published so far. This truly boosted my confidence that I could write good poetry, and I did, year after year, each one getting deeper and deeper. From fifth grade to present day, my love for poetry still stands strong.

The inevitable question still stands: why do I love poetry? Well, I am enchanted by it because of its potential to convey deep and intriguing ideas in a few, well-written words. Let us go back to the Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken”, especially the line: “I took the one less traveled by.” Frost used approximately 7 words to convey his views on the convenience of life, how most people would take the easy route and not trudge through the more difficult path. These ideas are indeed effectively conveyed in those few words—and that represents the beauty of poetry. The ability to give meaning to the phrase “less is more” and the beautiful flow of words and phrases truly distinguishes poetry from its other written counterparts, such as books or essays. There is just an enchanting aspect to poetry that cannot be found elsewhere, one that shows so much through an intricate web of words and phrases.

This enchanting aspect, and so much more, has made and kept poetry as a significant part of my life. It’s like my violin: poetry is a part of my heart that I will never forget or ignore.

References (website form):

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken