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, a I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Making choices is, in some cases, a very hard thing to do. Sometimes they can be easy like what you will have for dinner tonight and other times they are tough and more long lasting such as where you will spend the next four years of you life. For instance, in this poem the speaker comes across two paths in which he has to choose one to continue on. While seeming simple, he makes the decision seem life altering. Does he take the road less traveled on or the one that has been worn? At first glance it seems the underlining theme in this poem is to be self-reliant and not follow everyone else. This can be seen through the description of the two different roads. But, as you approach the end, it seems the theme has changed. When Frost states, "I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference," the poems meaning shifts. It seems now as if the speaker is trying to say, that at some point we all have to make choices and we can never know if they mean anything until we have lived through them. I love to read this poem because it gives me a sense of peacefulness. Like no matter what decision or "road" you choose, as long as you make the best of it, and choose it for the right reasons, you can be happy. So, when coming to a fork in the road, think of this poem and smile!
