Robert Frost - 'Two Roads Diverged in a Yellow Wood...'

[ourmaninBusan]

I studied it in quatrains (four-lined stanzas), so I broke it up
into four-lined stanzas.

Source http://frost.freehosting.net/coll1.htm

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 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.

Curious how both roads are "really about the same"; business execs
have ruined this line by taking the last two lines out of context,
turning it into a boast -- "I took the road less traveled, and the
result was a multi-billion dollar steakhouse chain with my name on it..." ...that sort of self-congratulatory horseshit.

The two roads are the same.

[NoDayButToday]

I really love this poem. I studied it in 3 or 4 different english classes, and it hasn't gotten any less interesting to me.

[A*O]

I think the concept of 'the road less travelled' is an interesting one, and for many people a good one to follow. It's about moving out of your comfort zone and that's always positive, even if you hate it. I get very frustrated with people who stick with the familiar and won't 'risk' trying something new because it's somehow threatening.
When we decided to migrate to Australia from the UK it was more or less a whim I confess. But it seemed like a fantastic opportunity so we did it. Our friends and family were mostly horrified - 'oh my God, you are so brave, what if you hate it?'
Well, if we hate it we will come back (tickets to Australia are no longer one way) and how will we know unless we do it in the first place?
As it turned out, we LOVE it here, we have no desire to return to the UK, friends are coming out of the woodwork to come and visit Down Under and life is good.
I am totally baffled why people are SO reluctant to try something new. Very few things are irreversible, so give it a go already! Life is short.

[Robert Frost]

This is a deceptively simple poem that most people read it as a paean to nonconformity and individualism. Frost himself, though, would often tell listeners that this was a "very tricky" poem.

One key thing to notice is that, like ourmaninBusan says, the roads are "really about the same." Frost could have easily differentiated them to make one clearly the "less traveled" and desirable road, but he didn't. Another thing to notice is that Frost does not use the word "chose" in the poem--he uses the word "took" instead. By using the work "took," Frost steers clear of implying that there was some kind of moral or rational choice involved in the speaker's decision of which road to travel; the choice was an impulsive act.

The final stanza really gives the game away. I don't think the speaker, who imagines how he'll recount his act of taking the road "less traveled by," is being sincere. The speaker is trying to convince others (and himself) that it was the conscious, fully-considered choices he made between clearly marked roads during his life that has brought him to his current station. In fact, our life choices are not always governed by reason, are often ambiguous, and don't always signal where we will end up in life.

A*O, have you ever read Philip Larkin's "Poetry of Departures" (http://plagiarist.com/poetry/4864/)? Last year my best friends moved from the US to Melbourne, and I felt a mix of jealousy at their move (why am I not brave enough to take a risk like that?) and certainty that my decision to remain where I am is right for me. Larkin's poem helped me to get through a tough period.

[A*O]

Originally Posted by Robert Frost

Last year my best friends moved from the US to Melbourne, and I felt a mix of jealousy at their move (why am I not brave enough to take a risk like that?) and certainty that my decision to remain where I am is right for me. Larkin's poem helped me to get through a tough period.

But that's what I don't understand - why is it a RISK? What could possibly happen that would be so irreversible or unpleasant? At worst you would hate it, in which case you shrug and say 'oh well', jump on a plane and either go back home or try somewhere else. Australia suffers from 'the tyranny of distance' of course, but even so, nowhere is more than a day-on-a-plane away these days. Do your friends like Melbourne? I guess it could have been more of a culture shock for them as Americans but for Brits there is so much that is similar to the UK we still have to remind ourselves that we are actually 12,000 miles away.

[darksithbunny]

I had to memorize this poem in high school and then use the last part on my "thank you" section in the year book.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh, ages and ages hence. Two roads diverged in the yellow wood and I, I took the one less traveled by and THAT has made all the difference."

I also wanted to say that I actually had an English teacher tell me that took was not a word. Tell THAT to Robert Frost, Lady!

[A*O]

Originally Posted by darksithbunny

I also wanted to say that I actually had an English teacher tell me that took was not a word. Tell THAT to Robert Frost, Lady!

Wha???? Should it be 'taked' then?

[Robert Frost]

Originally Posted by A*O

But that's what I don't understand - why is it a RISK? What could possibly happen that would be so irreversible or unpleasant? At worst you would hate it, in which case you shrug and say 'oh well', jump on a plane and either go back home or try somewhere else. Australia suffers from 'the tyranny of distance' of course, but even so, nowhere is more than a day-on-a-plane away these days. Do your friends like Melbourne? I guess it could have been more of a culture shock for them as Americans but for Brits there is so much that is similar to the UK we still have to remind ourselves that we are actually 12,000 miles away.

Well, if I were to answer why it's a risk for me I'd be getting into my own stupid phobias and borderline agoraphobia. There's no real risk, I have to admit, besides what my mind tells me there is. Leaving behind family and friends could be unpleasant, but not a risk. The biggest risk for my friends was that one of them had a very good job she was leaving as part of the move, and there was no guarantee she'd be able to get anything similar in Australia. In fact, she just got her first real job a couple of weeks ago, and only now are things starting to work out (financially) for them. They love Australia, though--they just got their visa extended and have no plans to leave. Although one of them had never been to Australia before, neither seem to have experienced much culture shock at all. Now I just need to overcome my fears and go visit them!


"also wanted to say that I actually had an English teacher tell me that took was not a word. Tell THAT to Robert Frost, Lady! also wanted to say that I actually had an English teacher tell me that took was not a word. Tell THAT to Robert Frost, Lady!"

How is this woman an English teacher!?