The Road Not Taken: Robert Frost

Have you ever found yourself caught between a rock and a hard place, trying to make a difficult decision? I guess we all have been faced with challenging decisions in our lives, and sometimes the difficulty of making those decisions arises from the fear of not knowing if what we choose is right, or what will happen as a result of our choice.

Well, the famous American poet, Robert Frost, once wrote a poem that describes this feeling exactly. ‘The Road Not Taken‘, first published in 1916, is perhaps Frost’s most famous poem. The final lines in particular, ‘Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference’, are often quoted and referred to as inspirational words that challenge us to overcome obstacles in life.

*************************************************************************************************************

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;

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.

************************************************************************************************