Saturday, March 26, 2011

Day 85, March 26

It is no secret that I love beautiful writing. My own attempts to produce it too frequently fall short, but I continue to admire those who write with eloquence, grace, and honesty.

Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874. He sold his first poem for the princely sum of $15.00. He went on to produce volume after volume of poetry, earning four Pulitzer Prizes during his lifetime.

Despite his success, Frost endured many tragedies, including the deaths of four out of his six children and that of his wife. Along with his mother and several children, he suffered from depression. Still, he wrote. He wrote not of esoteric subjects and far-flung lands, but of rural America and those who made their homes there. He remained characteristically modest about his accomplishments. "In three words I can sum up what I've learned about life," he once said. "It goes on."

He went his own way, teaching and writing up until his death in 1963. As he wrote in perhaps his most quoted poem, "I took the road less traveled."

So, for today, I am grateful for Robert Frost and the enduring beauty of his poetry.

3 comments:

  1. Robert Frost's "Road Less Traveled" was one of the first poems to inspire me, as it still inspires me today. Every time I'm taking a lonely road, I think of that poem and it strengthens me. Others have been here before. And there is One who is always there. The road may be less traveled, but I'm never truly alone.

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  2. I, too, love Robert Frost's poetry. In the fifth grade, I bought a book of poems and loved them all so much that I memorized several. I also love Emily Dickenson and Carl Sandburg.

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  3. Oh, Jane, I forgot. Here's my blog address: http://denanetherton.blogspot.com. You can click on this and it should come up. Thanks.

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