#The_Road_Not_Taken -#ROBERT_FROST ——————————————————— (Read by the poet Robert Frost at President Ken

#The_Road_Not_Taken 

-#ROBERT_FROST

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(Read by the poet Robert Frost at President Kennedy's inauguration on 21-1-1961@ White House )

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.

••••••••••••••

This is one of my most famous poems . It is a poem that describes the dilemma of a person standing at a road with diversion. Robert Frost writes about the common, ordinary experiences in a simple but insightful way. The poet stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Both ways are equally worn and equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves. The speaker chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day. Yet he knows it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to do so. And he admits that someday in the future he will recreate the scene with a slight twist: He will claim that he took the less-traveled road. This diversion symbolizes real-life situations. Sometimes, in life too there come times when we have to take tough decisions. We could not decide what is right or wrong for us. The  poem also seems more concerned with the question of how the concrete present --yellow woods, grassy roads covered in fallen leaves, will look from a future vantage point.

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“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

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One of my friends gifted me a coffee mug written with this quote when I was in college. After few years I came to know that this is the most misunderstood quote…... These lines are not about the support or regret for not choosing the other. These lines are not about the road which Frost or any other person took, made him or them famous. From the first and second stanza, we know that both roads are the same. When there is a choice, chose with courage and not with cowardice. When life is difficult, our determination matters not the decision. Once the decision is made destination is not far. Because for the brave.. path doesn't matter, it's the purpose.

Then what exactly do they mean?

Here ‘difference’ is the keyword. The difference is one’s prank and the other’s passion. The difference is choosing with courage or with confusion. Sometimes when jokes are taken seriously, the ‘difference’ they make is both encouraging and devastating. For courageous dream, devotion, a determination is the staple food. Chaotic ones eat doubt for breakfast, distrust for lunch, and dispassion for dinner. Philip Edward Thomas, for whom this poem was meant, moved from confusion to courage, enlisting himself for Artists-Rifles, despite being married. He was killed in action soon after he arrived in France. His decision was brave despite depression, marital discontent, and failed suicide attempts. His decision made all the difference! From indecision to the champion.

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Everyone has to follow its own path. Yet, there is also an irony into this: by choosing a path you automatically miss on what the other one might have reserved for you.

This poem makes you reflect on the fact that each day of our life is made of choices and decisions.

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Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

-Robert Frost

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Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

#ksrpost

19-7-2021.