This bit of poetry has been applied to my life, usually somewhat erroneously as a statement of my unique and individualistic character.
Frost’s original intention however was to make a statement about paths NOT taken. It a lament over how his life may have been different had he gone down the more conventional path.
I have, however, always had an extraordinarily clear mental image of the natural environment that acted as a metaphor for these life choices.
It is below, followed by the poem here discussed.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...
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.
——————-
As I travel down life’s road, I am finding myself at a new crossroads even now. Facing the detrimental decisions I have made and searching for a way to understand better which path I should take when new crossroads are presented along the way.
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