“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; 5

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, 10

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. 15

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. 20

I had never read this poem before now. Now that I have, I realize that many, like myself, have misunderstood it. Most, probably by not reading but simply seeing the title. This poem is not about taking the road less traveled. It is, however, as the title and the poem states, a tale of man who comes to a fork in the road and must choose one way or the other. Both are equally traveled and equally covered with leaves. The speaker chooses one and tells himself that one day he take the other, thought he knows that it is unlikely he ever will have the chance to do so. He states that someday in the future when he is telling this story to others he will say he took the road less traveled, which will add a slight twist and a little drama to this somewhat everyday story.

Forks in roads and paths in woods have been symbols and metaphors of life and lifeline since ancient times. They hold crises and decisions. The fork in this poem is identical on either size, symbolizing the nexus of fate and free will. Because each side is the same, we are free to choose but we don’t know what we are choosing between. Therefore our decision is determine by the culmination choice and chance. I personally love this poem because it does not advise. It doesn’t say “take the left” “take the right” “take the road less traveled”. Like life, the man must decide on his own and the reader never knows which he chooses.

  The title also lead me to think that in the future the man may even regret the decision he made. Not because of the outcome but because of what he may have loss by not taking the other road. This is one of those poems that every person should read and I believe every person will have a different view of it. Many views may be similar but each person has to relate the poem to their own lives and so each view will be, should be, slightly different.