Poetry Sunday: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

I know I have featured this poem here before, but it has been several years ago, so maybe I can be forgiven for putting it out there once again. It is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems. It is a poem that anyone who has ever had to choose between courses of action in life - in other words, everyone - can easily relate to. What to do when faced with two choices each of which seems "just as fair" as the other? How does one choose? And will we at some point in the future recall those "two roads" and wonder if we traveled the right one?

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.

Comments

  1. David M. Gascoigne,March 27, 2022 at 4:37 AM

    It's probably a fair claim that this poem is the best of known of American poetry in the rest of the world. It speaks to all of us, doesn't it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 27, 2022 at 9:16 AM

      It does carry a universal message. No doubt that is at the root of its popularity.

      Delete
  2. The Butterfly ReaderMarch 27, 2022 at 8:48 AM

    This is my favorite poem of all time. This poem's actually was the reason I got into poetry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 27, 2022 at 9:18 AM

      It probably has encouraged many people toward an enjoyment and maybe writing of poetry.

      Delete
  3. AlanaMarch 27, 2022 at 11:48 AM

    From the first time I read this poem as a teen, I loved it. So simple on the surface and yet - yes, I have to believe it speaks a universal message.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 27, 2022 at 12:20 PM

      I think, as Carrie said, the poem has provided an "entry point" to poetry for many readers.

      Delete
  4. FavoredMarch 27, 2022 at 12:53 PM

    Like others, I have loved his poem since the first time I read it in high school. As you said, Dorothy, it is universal! Thank you for reposting it "for such a time as this."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzMarch 28, 2022 at 7:34 AM

    It's a personal favorite. I like to think I'm happy I chose the less traveled path.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 28, 2022 at 8:48 AM

      I've always liked it a lot as well. In fact, there's nothing not to like about it. It's just about perfect.

      Delete
  6. Lark March 28, 2022 at 4:00 PM

    Another one of my favorite poems! :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. thecuecardMarch 29, 2022 at 12:58 PM

    Such a great poem. Perhaps my favorite of all time. And it's one I know! I don't know a lot of poetry but this one - YES

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersMarch 29, 2022 at 3:06 PM


      It is an easy one to memorize which is one of its charms.

      Delete
  8. AnonymousNovember 21, 2024 at 5:32 AM

    this website is pretty cool

    ReplyDelete

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