Somtimes, yes, this is how life feels to me...
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.
And I wouldn't wish it any other way!!!!
posted by shaun @ 3:15 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
It's funny how some poems when you first read them have no impact but then, at the right time, they strike a chord. I like that aspect of creativity revealing itself to you so that it finds a way into your life and a niche in which to dwell.
Alright, so here's my beef with this poem, and it's driven me crazy since the first time I read it. My issue is that the poem describes both roads as having been travelled about equally and looking more or less the same:
"Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same"
And then at the end he decides to take the one less travelled by. It is non-sensical. You might say, well, he takes the one less travelled by *him*, but that doesn't really make sense either as an analogy for the paths we choose in life, because he couldn't have been down either of these paths before. So, what the hell Frost? What's your deal? Why write a poem whose entire intent is to advocate going your own way, and then muddy it up with inconsistency? Am I the only person who has ever read the middle of the poem?
I think that the poem works on a more ironic level. And Frost's own comments on the poem that "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem—very tricky." show that he is playing with the reader that take the poem as a simple explanation to forge his or her own way in life and not follow the path that others have already taken. He is in fact making fun of those people that obsses over little things like taking a stupid road in the woods or indeed any choice and than attempt to give life altering significance to the minor choices that everyone faces dozens of times a day.
The fact that poem has become famous in high school english classes around the English speaking world for meaning the opposite of what most readers take its meanning to be, makes it quite a funny poem.
Not as funny as those by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow who makes you want to travel in time and kill him before somebody could appoint him and his work "classic", but funny nonetheless.
Alright, I can accept that. It's rather satisfying to actually hear a reasonable explanation. (And if I'd spent about 30 seconds googling instead of bitching, I'd probably have found that out sooner.)
Read here for example:
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