The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Choral Clarity · The Road Not Taken (SATB) - composed by Adam Paltrowitz

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.

I have always felt a sort of melancholy when reading this poem--the knowledge that the choices I have made have led me to the place where I am at right now, but knowing that there are other choices I might have made that would, perhaps, have led me somewhere else in my life.  It isn't so much a feeling of regret, but the knowing that there is no way to return to that moment--that particular moment in time save in the retelling of it.  I suppose that's the sense of mournful passage that this poem, for me, reflects.

I don't know if this is meant to be a hopeful poem or a sad one.  I suspect you can look at it in many different lights.  For someone who has chosen to pursue their own happiness and found it, this can be a truly empowering poem.  But for those who may have lost someone or something in their lives, it can be a painful reminder to cherish the moments we do have with others as the path can easily diverge where those people and opportunities are no longer present.

Perhaps it is meant as a cautionary tale--to remind us to consider our choices in life, and then also to reflect on those choices, seeing how they have led us to where we are.  These words remind us that the paths we choose in life are a reflection of who are.

I think, too, this poem speaks to the joy of exploration and possibilities--how we can lose ourselves in such things only to find ourselves many years later wondering what other paths we might have taken--what other avenues might we have explored?

It is, to me, a beautiful poem of self-affirmation though, as well.  That path that was taken has made all the difference in where and who we are; that path is a testament to the person we have become.

And as Mr. Frost says, "...that has made all the difference."