Today (March 26) is the date in 1874 when Robert Frost was born, he who would become America's most famous and beloved poet.When being taught Frost as a child, little did I ever think that his verses would go unmemorized, even unread, by the schoolchildren that would come after me. But, sadly, that is what has happened. Poetry as an entire genre of literary art is nowadays missing from the modern curricula...and from life.
But some of us remember. And there a few schools and families who yet teach the appreciation of poetry. And wherever they do, Robert Frost will be among those still cherished.
On this page, you can find a lot of Frost's most memorable poems, including Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, The Road Not Taken and several others less famous but nevertheless quite beautiful and provocative. One of the poems in that category is the one I print below.
God's Garden
by Robert Frost
God made a beatous garden
With lovely flowers strown,
But one straight, narrow pathway
That was not overgrown.
And to this beauteous garden
He brought mankind to live,
And said: "To you, my children,
These lovely flowers I give.
Prune ye my vines and fig trees,
With care my flowerets tend,
But keep the pathway open
Your home is at the end."
Then came another master,
Who did not love mankind,
And planted on the pathway
Gold flowers for them to find.
And mankind saw the bright flowers,
That, glitt'ring in the sun,
Quite hid the thorns of av'rice
That poison blood and bone;
And far off many wandered,
And when life's night came on,
They still were seeking gold flowers,
Lost, helpless and alone.
O, cease to heed the glamour
That blinds your foolish eyes,
Look upward to the glitter
Of stars in God's clear skies.
Their ways are pure and harmless
And will not lead astray,
Bid aid your erring footsteps
To keep the narrow way.
And when the sun shines brightly
Tend flowers that God has given
And keep the pathway open
That leads you on to heaven.
