Poetry

I was reminded of this poem yesterday, when we were in the woods yesterday and quite literally, 2 roads diverged! This poem was part of my high school curriculum twice, once in 9th grade and again in 12th grade, a time in our lives when decisions may have a long term impact. I tried to make it a teaching moment to my teenage daughter, and she also gave me her perspective. Maybe both paths cannot be traveled today, but we can come back to the other path another day and there may not be any wrong decisions. There is more than 1 path to contentment!

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.