SEVENTH GRADE

The Road Not Taken BY ROBERT 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.

 EIGHT GRADE

Ode on Solitude BY ALEXANDER POPE

Happy the man, whose wish and care

A few paternal acres bound,

Content to breathe his native air,

In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,

Whose flocks supply him with attire,

Whose trees in summer yield him shade,

In winter fire.

Blest, who can unconcernedly find

Hours, days, and years slide soft away,

In health of body, peace of mind,

Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease,

Together mixed; sweet recreation;

And innocence, which most does please,

With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;

Thus unlamented let me die;

Steal from the world, and not a stone

Tell where I lie.

 NINE GRADE

Renewed By The Morning Light by Patricia A. Fleming

I sit upon my front porch stoop

Beneath the morning sun.

Grateful for the moment spent

Away from everyone.

The air is fresh and slightly chilled,

The sky is blue and clear.

The silence that surrounds me now

Is music to my ears.

I love the morning best of all,

It's my most tranquil time,

When the promise of a brand new day

Can ease my troubled mind.

When second chances seem more possible

And the world less cold and dark,

And hope can somehow pierce the walls

Of my sad and aching heart.

When left alone with nature

All the world seems far away

And the woes of life so trivial

When wrapped in her embrace.

But alas the birds awaken

And begin to sing their songs,

And people slowly wander by

And nod as they go on.

The sun has now grown brighter

 As it rises in the sky

And in the distance there's a whistle

As a train goes lumbering by.

The world is calling out to me

To jump back in the fray.

To have faith things can get better

And let go of yesterday.

So today I get to start again

By the morning light renewed.

Feeling brave and energized,

There is nothing I can't do.