♥ Monday, June 29, 2009
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.
Figuratuve language:"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" is probably a symbolism of the author's life, about the choices he makes, the paths he takes. “And having perhaps the better claim” is a personification of the path “having a better claim”. "Because it was grassy and wanted wear" is also a personification of the path. "Want" is a human action, and the path, a non-living thing, is taking a human action. The author says this, to emphasise what was it that impelled him to take that path.
"Somewhere ages and ages hence" is a hyperbole, an exaggeration of the time period. The author wants to emphasise how much time has passed since he took the path. Use of the word "Oh" and the exclamation mark in line 13, and the slight pause, "and I-I took the one less travelled by", are all hyperboles as well, and emphasise the author's feelings after taking the path less travelled by.
Why I like this poem:I like this poem because it uses figurative language well and not to excess, and also its sense of mystery. It makes me wonder exactly what difference it made that the writer took the path less travelled. What happened to him when he took that path? What was it that would make him “tell it with a sigh”? Is he disappointed? Resigned? Satisfied? I do not know for sure, because the writer does not make it clear.
We assume that something bad must have happened, and not something good, because when we think of “the path less travelled”, we think of something undesirable. Why else would it be “less travelled”?
Done by Joel Tan (12) 1I2
Blogged by us @ 8:45:00 AM
