| 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; | 5 |
| 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, | 10 |
| 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. | 15 |
| 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. You may only take one path in life; and you will suffer/enjoy its repercussions/rewards The first route, perhaps, is the more typical path taken by many others, like being a doctor, or something of the like. The second route ; 'one less traveled by', is the route the author took and 'that has made all the difference'. He has become a poet, or some other atypical, less traveled profession The difficulty in choosing a path mirrors the similar process we go through in life. Whether to take a doctor's degree or economics or whatever, there are decisions all the way. We get a feeling that this path-choosing is a very important decision in the life of the author, and it has made all the difference. -m |