On The Road

The Road Not Taken

Even the poet spoke of the poem as tricky, very tricky. Poetry and literature carry with it a subjectivity that allows us, as reader, to infer our own conclusions, draw from the work what resonates with us and utilize it in whichever way we need - at the moment. It is quite possible that we may read The Road Not Taken in our 20's with an entirely different perspective than we would when we reach 40. Frost's work was not written about himself but about a friend of his. They often took walks in the woods and when coming upon various forks, the friend would chose a path, then later question what he might have missed on the other. More often than not, this work is interpreted as a serious poem about the decisions we make in life, and for those who read it in this way, such an interpretation is valid. Then again, there are those who have read it with a slightly more satirical slant:

Is it worth questioning or theorizing at a later date what may have happened should we have chosen a different path in life? Robert Frost wrote The Road Not Taken after having moved to England to pursue with vigor his work as poet, he had come to the mid-point of his life, which may have influenced his use of the autumn woods, metaphorically the beginning of our waning years. Mr. Frost opens his work by finding the Narrator in a yellow wood where two roads diverge. The color yellow can indicate the the season of the year and it is color associated with brightness and joy. Oh, happy day, beautiful autumn foliage - oh, wait, a decision, an indecision, a contemplation and a sorrow that one cannot clone one's self and live two lives. . .and so we look, we gaze, we try to see as far ahead as we can wondering what might be beyond the next bend. . .to no avail. Sometimes, it appears on impulse (though we've pondered long), that we choose to follow another road, the look of it as fair as the other, nothing to indicate the possibility of unjust dilemma; we begin to rationalize our choice by viewing it as perhaps better, greener, more fruitful when in fact either choice can bring us bountiful results (Thompson, 1976).

Perhaps Mr. Frost is posing for us an unspoken question. Does it make a difference and should we belabor the choice now or in some distant and unforeseeable future, or should we live in the moment and walk with confidence rather than doubt. Is the statement "but knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted that I shall ever come back," a definitive fatalistic approach , return to school, choose to marry or have children late or to divorce during our lifetime and does this not give us the opportunity to go back, to explore a road we'd previously put aside for another day.

Oh, the poet is ...