I’ve been in a Robert Frost state of mind. It started when I spent November 1, a dark and drizzly day, reciting the poem “My November Guest” to myself all day long. Which reminded me of one of the other two Robert Frost poems I know by heart. Not “Dust of Snow,” but “Bravado,” one of a group of 5 poems called, collectively, “Five Nocturnes.”
It goes like this:
Have I not walked without an upward look
Of caution under stars that very well
Might not have missed me when they shot and fell?
It was a risk I had to take — and took.
It’s a short poem, and easy to learn, but also interesting in the way the two sentences distribute themselves over four lines, and where the rhyming words pop up. And it’s funny. I promise you that if you learn it, you will enjoy saying it and trying to get your head around those few simple things. Also, you will be smarter, and better-looking.
Lynne Rae Perkins 