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.

The Possibilities Are Endless

One of my favorite poets in high school was Robert Frost.  The first time I read "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening",  I knew that there was something important--something magical--in the way this man could evoke from words, beautiful truths.  I imagine that my love of poetry stems, in part, from reading many of his poems.  But my greater love of poetry comes from the belief that words can create emotions, thoughts, and ideas in all of us in a way that moves us and makes a memory within us to which we can return.

Over the past several days, I've been dealing with this idea of possibilities--what I would write here, how I would transform myself and others with these words.  And I have to admit that every day I come to this place to write, I am always amazed at the wealth of possibilities.  For every thought that makes its way to you here, there are likely twenty more that may never be voiced.  And it's daunting--making that decision about what I'm going to write each day--choosing that one important thing that's going to tie all the little ideas I have together into a coherent whole.

John sent me an article the other day written by an author he likes.  It, too, talks about the realm of possibilities and the potential that lies within them.  I think there is an expression there, too, of frustration--that moment when you have to pick the path you're going to follow knowing there are so many more that you could have taken.  And maybe there's a little self-recrimination for falling back into old patterns because they're things you know--comfortable old pairs of shoes that smell and are torn up, but better than trying out that new pair of shoes, because you have no idea if they're going to fit right.

Still, we make a choice--we limit the possibilities, and we explore their potential.

Which is what brings me back to Robert Frost.

He wrote a poem called "The Road Not Taken".  And as I was looking for something to write about today, sorting through endless possibilities, I found my old friend waiting for me--ready to remind me about that realm of possibilities.  I had just been looking for a quote, but I found instead my inspiration.

I want to leave you with a video of a choir singing an a cappella version of Frost's poem that, to me, expresses the beauty and the sadness of making choices.



The possibilities are endless, we have but to choose which path we will take.