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Recommended by Mr. Tsang Kai Yip

When I graduated from university and puzzled about my career direction, Miss Shirley Ngai, a friend of mine who taught English, shared her favourite poem with me. I, as a person who studies science, could not grasp the meaning of the entire poem. Unlike other graduates who were busy with job hunting, I paid my full attention to understanding the poem shared by Shirley. I believe that Shirley wanted to direct me to the right path through this poem. Instead of searching Wikipedia for a direct translation, I read the book I recommended today in order to have a comprehensive understanding on the poem.

What the book impresses me most is its logical presentation of how to approach a poem, structurally and literally. It is commonly known that every single line of a poem has its own beat, and the last word of each line should be voiced with the same vowels – rhythm and rhyme. After reading the book, you will discover that rhythm and rhyming patterns can be more complicated than you have ever imagined.

Apart from the framework of poems, you will be surprised about the suggestions given by the writer on how to analyse a poem. Approaching a poem is a science and an art. Although we seldom write poetry, some poetic devices, such as personification and sensory imagery, can still be beneficial to our writing. Studying poetry is not only a tool for students to win a certificate at the Hong Kong Schools Speech Festival, but also a way for students to appreciate the mood and imageries created by poets.

I would like to wrap up my sharing with the poem shared by Shirley. I hope that this poem can be your beacon when you face any difficulties in life.


The Road Not Taken
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.
Robert Frost (1874 – 1963)