Road Not Taken--My Thoughts

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.
--Robert Frost

In Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” lies the beauty in that it lends itself to a variety of interpretations. To me, however, this poem represents the potential influence, power, and consequence of each decision I make in life, and how the outcome of my choices are not revealed until after I have lived it. “The Road Not Taken” is an inspirational poem that encourages self-reliance, thinking for oneself rather than following a more popular path that others may go, and realizing the impact one decision has on the direction and outcome of one’s entire journey called “life.” Frost metaphorically depicts a truth in articulating what each human soul faces at various crossroads as one creates his individual journey of life, and relays that the road one chooses—the individual decisions he makes—is what ultimately shapes one to be who he is.

Each person has experienced crossroads at many points in his life—some are the more minor daily choices, others are the bigger choices such as what faith we choose to believe, who we marry, what degree we pursue, among countless other life-altering decisions. Regardless, each choice affects our future and where we ultimately end up. Frost’s speaker in this poem relays the permanency of our choices in that they will determine what crossroads we encounter later: “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost 14-15).
When faced with big decisions we often wonder, “How do I know what paths to take in life?” or “How will I know I made the right decision?” These are the questions the speaker of “The Road Not Taken” faces: “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” (Frost 1-4). In saying this, Frost successfully, articulately, and beautifully captures the essence of what the human soul experiences throughout life has one faces his many life-altering decisions—his crossroads in which he must choose one path or another.

Ultimately, Frost depicts that every living person is a traveler, shaping his own life’s journey through each path he chooses at various crossroads. “The Road Not Traveled” clearly demonstrates Frost’s belief that it is the road one chooses that makes each individual who he is: “Two roads diverged in a wood and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference” (Frost 18-20). In saying this, Frost conveys the individuality, uniqueness, and adventure of each person’s life if he chooses to make his own decisions, to be bold—to take the road less traveled as that will make a difference in one’s future, in what he ultimately becomes.