Devotion
The heart can think of no devotion
Greater than being shore to the ocean—
Holding the curve of one position,
Counting an endless repetition.
"Man," my creative writing teacher said as she flipped through the pages of my copy, "Robert Frost must have written a poem for every day of his life." She placed it back on the table. "And yet the only one people know is that one. Bit sad, isn't it?"
She was talking about "The Road Not Taken," but I agree to a degree. Regardless... finally! This beast of a volume I can now leave in peace and it me.
Robert Frost, as I gather him from this compilation of his published books, is a poet with a paintbrush. He dips his instrument in eloquence and paints his words in expert artistry. Nature is the obvious centrepiece of his works, which is a fitting specialty. However, I found I admired more the everyday life, youth and loss of innocence aspects in his writing.
Now, for all my praise, don't get me wrong. I loved the poems but loved only some and definitely not the whole volume. More than often, I slugged through various parts and the process became tedious. I felt intimidated several times by the sheer size, although I'm never one for longer tomes of poetry. I admit I skimmed the biographical and textual notes, just because I didn't read this book with the intent of noting Frost's textual changes or E.C.L.'s annotations. They seemed to offer not a great deal more than pieces' first appearances anyway.
Either way, I'm happy to say I've read the person widely regarded as America's greatest poet.
Lines Written In Dejection On The Eve Of Great Success
(...)
He answered her back, "Well, who begun it?"
That's what at the end of a war
We always say—not who won it,
Or what it was foughten for.