I have been in a contemplative mood lately. A few weeks ago I looked up one of my favorite poems on the internet - The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I took a creative writing class in high school and did a research paper on Robert Frost. This poem left a lasting impression on me and seemed appropriate in my recent circumstance.
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;
...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.
One of the things that has always fascinated me about the poem is the title - The Road Not Taken - it's as if the author still wonders what would have happened if he had chosen the other road, but in life there is just no way to know the answer to that question. The other thing I've always liked is that he chose the road less traveled - that is the path I choose (or hope to choose most often) - the road less traveled. This is not a journey for the meek or faint of heart; it requires courage, conviction and commitment. The purpose is not to make life more difficult than it ought to be, but rather to truly live - to be part of an adventure and create a wealth of memories along the way.
I hope you've enjoyed my musings. I did not print the entire poem here - just the parts of the poem that mean the most to me. If you haven't before, I'd encourage you to read the whole thing.
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;
...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.
One of the things that has always fascinated me about the poem is the title - The Road Not Taken - it's as if the author still wonders what would have happened if he had chosen the other road, but in life there is just no way to know the answer to that question. The other thing I've always liked is that he chose the road less traveled - that is the path I choose (or hope to choose most often) - the road less traveled. This is not a journey for the meek or faint of heart; it requires courage, conviction and commitment. The purpose is not to make life more difficult than it ought to be, but rather to truly live - to be part of an adventure and create a wealth of memories along the way.
I hope you've enjoyed my musings. I did not print the entire poem here - just the parts of the poem that mean the most to me. If you haven't before, I'd encourage you to read the whole thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment