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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,
"The Road Not Taken" is one of Frost's most popular works. Yet, it is a frequently misunderstood poem, often read simply as a poem that champions the idea of "following your own path". Actually, it expresses some irony regarding such an idea.
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. From The Poetry of Robert Frost by Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem.
Again, however, Frost refuses to allow the title to have a single meaning: “The Road Not Taken” also evokes “the road less traveled,” the road most people did not take. The poem moves from a fantasy of staving off choice to a statement of division.
The clarity and wisdom of hindsight allows us to realize that doing something like taking the path “less traveled by” has impacted our lives immensely. "The Road Not Taken" is also about our perspective...and how hindsight helps us reconsider our past decision.
The poem depicts the agony of a decision making and the rewards of forging your own path. The subject of the poem is faced with a decision of taking the safe route that others have taken before or breaking new ground. He says that he took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
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.
The first is the poem that readers think of as “The Road Less Traveled,” in which the speaker is quietly congratulating himself for taking an uncommon path (that is, a path not taken by others). The second is the parodic poem that Frost himself claimed to have originally had in mind, in which the dominant tone is one of self-dramatizing ...
The choice is not straightforward, as both paths appear equally promising. However, the speaker ultimately chooses the path that has been less traveled, despite its potential risks. The poem's simple language and straightforward structure contrast with the weighty decision the speaker faces.
Regularly recited at important rites of passage, the poem has repeatedly been misinterpreted as a celebration of the courage required to take the path “less traveled” (line 19). On the contrary, Frost’s poem serves as a powerful examination of the burden of free will and the fictive power of memory.
