Poetry Sunday: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Yes, I know I have featured this poem here before, but it is a particular favorite of mine, so you'll have to forgive me for featuring it again. It is, of course, one of Robert Frost's most famous and beloved poems. The message it imparts is familiar to anyone who has ever had to make a hard choice. In other words, everyone. Don't we all wonder what would have happened if we had chosen differently - if we had taken that other road?

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. jabblogDecember 1, 2024 at 4:44 AM

    The eternal question of 'What if?' can never be answered. The last line, 'And that has made all the difference' can be interpreted in many ways.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David M. Gascoigne,December 1, 2024 at 5:18 AM

    Surely one of the most well known poems, at least in North America, and loved by all. It will always resonate with its message, and I think that many of us hope that we have taken the path less travelled.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thecuecardDecember 1, 2024 at 8:54 AM

    Thanks for this classic. It still lifts my spirit.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 1, 2024 at 6:16 PM

    My favorite poem. Glad I took the road less traveled. I won't join the herd.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lark December 2, 2024 at 8:39 AM

    I often wondered where I'd be if I'd made different choices along the way!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzDecember 2, 2024 at 10:40 AM

    I like taking the road not taken!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AlanaDecember 2, 2024 at 2:40 PM

    I, too, took the road not taken (at least in my 20's and 30's) and it really did make all the difference. I have loved this poem since the first time I read it as part of my schooling. Little did I know I would visit Frost's Vermont home one day (last year).

    ReplyDelete

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