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.”
As I explore the same trails that inspired this poem years ago I reflect on the words of his poem. “The Road Not Taken” is all about what did not happen: I think of the moments when we are faced with an important conscious decision, chose the least popular, the path of most resistance. Destined to go down one, regretted not being able to take both, so we sacrificed one for the other. Frost’s friend regretted not taking the road that might have offered the best opportunities, despite it being an unknown. Life is a journey. Which way would you go? Make a choice without regrets.
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