Brittany's Poem and Handout

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Lee Frost

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.


Thesis: Frost uses metaphors, 1st person point of view and imagery to explain how taking 'the path less travelled by' has made all the difference in his life.


1. Why does the poet describes the woods as "yellow" in the first line? Is it symbolic of the time of year of of the significance of the colour yellow or something else?

2. Do you think it is better to take the road that is less traveled, or the road that many have traveled?

3. Is it possible that the two roads are, were, or can be, somewhat similar?

4. What do you believe that the narrator means when he says "I shall be telling this with a sigh"? Is is out of relief, regret, or something else?

5. Have there been times when you have traveled down one road and have wished that you had taken the other?

Amy's Poem and Handout

Poetry Seminar
Amy Hurst



The Children Are Laughing

It is Monday and the children are laughing
The children are laughing; they believe they are princes
They wear no shoes; they believe they are princes
And their filthy kingdom heaves up behind them.

The filthy city heaves up behind them
They are older than I am, their feet are shoeless
They have lived a thousand years; the children are laughing
The children are laughing and their death is upon them

I have cried in the city (the children are laughing)
I have worn many colors (the children are laughing)
They are older than I am, their death is upon them
I will wear no shoes when the princes are dying.

-Gwendolyn MacEwen


Thesis: MacEwan's use of imagery, first person point of view, and repetition serves as a clear demonstration into the reaction she thinks that children have to life's dire circumstances.

Questions:

1. Who do you think MacEwan is talking about when she says, 'the children'?

2. She says, "They are older than I am, their feet are shoeless. They have lived a thousand years; the children are laughing." Why do you think she still refers to them as children if they have 'lived a thousand years'?

3. Why do you think the poem mentions Monday, but no other day?

4. Do you think that children today act older than they actually are? In what ways?

5. How do you think "The children are laughing and their death is upon them" applies to our lives? Do you think it's an accurate representation of our youth?

6. What do you think she means in the final line when she says, "I will wear no shoes when the princes are dying"?