Hi All,
We are going to start close-readings on poetry starting Tuesday. I am wondering if you have any favorite poets. Please, post if you do and we'll read him/her in class.
One of my favorites is Robert Frost. Here is one to read and to respond to. What do you think Frost would want readers to take away from reading this poem? What words express Frost's desire?
This is due by Monday, January 22, so I can talk about it on Tuesday.
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.
5 comments:
I think, this is a road less traveled mentality. Where a person may want to try everything that life has to offer, But there comes a time in life where we must choose one thing or another. In that case the author of this poem is saying to choose the path in life that most people would not take.
By going off the beaten path, I think this means taking the more challenging road, which would ultimately be more satisfying when fully travelled, the "Road More Satisfying". It could also be saying "be yourself", and by taking the road not taken, you'll avoid conformity and stagnation.
I think that in this poem, Frost is saying that it is the road that one chooses that makes a person who they are. The fact that the traveler takes the road less traveled, either means that particular path is not for everyone, or that the traveler wants to be their own person and avoid conformity. "I took the road less traveled by and that had made all the difference." To this person, what really made the difference, is that they did what they wanted, even if it meant taking the road less traveled. If they hadn't, they wouldn't be the same person they are now.
I think this is about the roads less traveled in life. As in, the road most traveled on these days would be having a corporate job in an office, or a cubicle. However, one that is less traveled on may be randomly traveling the world and stealing food to stay alive. In this case I think Frost was referring to his own life, and how he did not end up with a normal job, but as a very succesfullpoet. I too am a Frost fan.
I think this poem is saying that it is worth it ot take the road less traveled, or to be an individual and go your own way in life instead of just doing what everyone else does. The road less traveled is better and has the better scenery. Although, I also think he is saying that many other people take the road less traveled, in the way he says that both roads were equally traveled. He could be alluding to other greats along the way that went in their own direction and became individuals and lived on in history, or possibly just the average people that decide to go their own way.
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