Tags
choice, lifestyle, Nature, Poem, Poetry, regret, road not taken, Robert Frost, wisdom
The Road Not Taken
by Robert FrostTwo 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 marked 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.
It would hardly be worth starting the memorization of poetry without hitting some of the all time favorites. “The Road Not Taken” is the perfect poem to start this journey.
Many people will take a shallow reading of this poem and say that ultimately, each man must choose his own path to walk. That is, of course, absolutely true. There is more to it that this because Frost himself said that this was one of his ‘tricky’ poems.
He could be saying that it doesn’t matter which road to take. Just choose one, and perhaps someday, you’ll be able to take the other path, and another journey.
Frost could also be thinking of some past choice of his own. He made his choice and lived his life accordingly. The path he choose didn’t take him back to make the choice again. This would be why he would be telling this story with a sigh after achieving the wisdom of old age. Perhaps there is a bit of regret in the past. Most of us live with regret. I may regret something someday, but for now, I have chosen to live without them. I am more of the type of person who will cast his anchor down where he is (another story) and start from where I am now. It seems more practical to live in the now, as opposed to the past.
Ultimately, whilst there may be some regret at some fork in our lives, Frost isn’t entirely regretful of his decision that “made all the difference.” We, as humans, love to consider the past and how things may have been different if we had acted otherwise. Most of us, if all things were equal, would choose the same things we did before, if possible.
For each decision in our lives, it is hard to know where it will lead. Somethings can be foreseen, but all decisions eventually bend in the undergrowth of the future. There is a nice contrast here between the future which is generally pictured as ahead and above us, while here it is imagined as greenery below us. Our future is like a low green fog that sneaks up on us; and before we know it, we are completely lost in the woods, perhaps not even knowing what brought us to our current condition. That is, of course, seeing the glass as half-empty. The half-full glass shows us that we walk the road to our future, and clear the path before us.
We all must choose our own paths, and we are happier if we can do so without regrets. If there are regrets, we still need to remain sure enough of ourselves and our life’s decisions to remain living. Life is such a wonderful thing. How much more so is the fact that we can choose our lives. We can choose to pursue our life, our liberty, and our happiness.
Have you chosen wisely?
Robert Frost poetry is always a journey into question and wonder. I like the poem. Good to take the quiet road. Time to think. Thank you for your thoughts and the amazing Robert Frost poetry.
Yes, Frost was quite a poet. So often in his poems, time seems to stand still, and the wonder of the moment is allowed to seep in, and to be savored. Some of these moments even allow for the fullness of understanding in the sense of Heinlein’s word, ‘grok’.
Decisions are hard and living well the ones we have is important advice — regret can cripple.
You said:
Maybe you are right in terms of percentages – “most of us”. But I for one can think of many choices that I would do over again very differently.
Maybe, like my past post shows, our reflex is to defend our own history, but I have no problem admitting that all the others could have been better, and since I’ve already lived this life, I wouldn’t choose the same things again at all. The new is too exciting for me. You are probably like, most don’t like “change” nor thinking about it.
Ironically you tell us the Poem itself has two paths, “the shallow reading” and some other. I have no idea which path I have chosen.
You are correct that most don’t like change or even thinking about it. They get all worked up in their little lives about the minutia that don’t mean a darned thing.
I love the new, I love where we could end up in a few short years considering the technology available now. I love out of the box thinking, as I am sure you do too.
We do have that tendency to defend our history. That comes from our rationalizing of everything. If someone acts on a post-hypnotic suggestion, and is asked why he did that, there will be rationalization. Mankind is full of story-tellers…something every parent knows.. hehe
I like this poem, it’s one of my fave’s. I think we can make the best of any path we choose…hopefully when we choose it’s based on love and not fear. The choices made because of fear are the ones we regret (just my opinion)
Absolutely, Diana. We can make the best of any path, even those based on fear. π
Oh yes, another import observation I’ve made is how much we often deceive ourselves about “having made a choice” — we are often little automatons in our lives, with our brains spinning the illusion of control and self-righteous decisions after the fact.
Alas
Very true Sabio. This illusion of choice making is something that most people don’t wish to give up. From an evolutionary standpoint, this illusion has served our species well. Even knowing that choice and free will is an illusion doesn’t keep me from acting that way. It doesn’t bring me feelings of hopelessness, strangely enough.
Sadly, we are often just little automatons. One thing I love about the blogging community is the chance to meet many who like to step outside of the normal and into the extraordinary. π It makes for a nice break from the routine, allows for many viewpoints to be more understood, etc.
Indeed! i am following you now.
Thanks for that, Sabio.
And I added you to my blogroll — consider lengthening your blogroll! (only one)
That I may… π and thank you much. I have a big furniture order to build in next couple of weeks.. ;-( .. on top of my full time job to boot.
This Frost poem is one of my favorites of all time. The photo is splendid, and I enjoyed reading your comments.
May all of your decisions be wise ones.
Thanks Lori! I’ve got at least two more of those to write for Frost. Time against me
….;(