The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost ( source the poetry foundation post )
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 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.
Are we more aware when we look outward or are we more aware when we look inward? In silence I am more aware but does my new found awareness sound out my silence? Silence then awareness to make another decision. Always decisions! Decisions are the salad, or more appropriately, the lettuce of the salad of my day.
Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken presented a decision in the woods that day. I always thought that it had to be a courageous decision for Frost’s traveler. I presumed he took the road less traveled and that made all the difference to him.
If you have the opportunity find the Paris Review’s essay about this poem as written by one David Orr. Mr Orr is the poetry columnist of the New York Times. An enlightening point (only one of many) Orr opined in the essay; this poem may be miss-understood by many of us fans of Frost. He states the line that tells the clue is in the 2nd stanza, had worn them really about the same. Two roads almost equally traveled yet Frost’s traveler will ages and ages hence look back in memory over his time and be able to comfort or blame himself for his current position because of his choices. Please note I take liberty here with a few lines from David Orr’s essay as I read it in the Paris Review to make the following point.
If David Orr is correct, no matter what choices/decisions we make each day we will not travel a road “less taken” until we take full responsibility for the outcome of each decision that led us down our current path. For me that road will not be less traveled. That road will present the same drama, (over and over) until I finally take responsibility for my role in said drama.
Yogi Berra,( famous New York Yankee catcher), once said, When you come to a fork in the road, take it. Now that is courageous!
I am learning how not to act like a recidivist. If I truly see how I create my daily dramas and take responsibility for the outcomes, I will not have to repeat the same dramas over and over again. Then and only then will I begin to travel on a road less traveled by (me).
Thank you for reading.
Mark