The Road Not Taken
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
One thing I really love about Frost is the way he will take a poem like this one, that holds the meaning and feeling behind it and place it in a form poem. The way that Frost uses his rhyme in this is incredible. (Yes, can you tell that I am a nerd when it comes to poetry) I have always liked this poem because I have found myself at this juncture so many times in life as well as in wandering the woods around where I live. You find yourself at split in the path and you have to decide which way to go. And truthfully though it may seem like not a big deal at the time of decision it can make all the difference further down the road.
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
One thing I really love about Frost is the way he will take a poem like this one, that holds the meaning and feeling behind it and place it in a form poem. The way that Frost uses his rhyme in this is incredible. (Yes, can you tell that I am a nerd when it comes to poetry) I have always liked this poem because I have found myself at this juncture so many times in life as well as in wandering the woods around where I live. You find yourself at split in the path and you have to decide which way to go. And truthfully though it may seem like not a big deal at the time of decision it can make all the difference further down the road.