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One of the most misunderstood poems of all time

Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:10 pm
Posted by HailHailtoMichigan!
Mission Viejo, CA
Member since Mar 2012
69246 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:10 pm
quote:


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 genius of this poem is found in understanding those two contradictory phrases I bolded. It is one of the most profound insights at how we as humans construct our past. Yet too many people will use that last stanza as an expression of individuality.
Posted by KosmoCramer
Member since Dec 2007
76476 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:12 pm to
Pass the jay, brah
Posted by Sir Drinksalot
Member since Aug 2005
16740 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:12 pm to
My favorite poem.

I love the opening line.
Posted by Tiger Ryno
#WoF
Member since Feb 2007
102970 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:13 pm to
Quite a leap.
Posted by biglego
Ask your mom where I been
Member since Nov 2007
76170 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:18 pm to
Poetry sucks
Posted by Y.A. Tittle
Member since Sep 2003
101267 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:23 pm to
Right. He didn't know he was taking the least traveled path. He wasn't trying to be different like most people who foolishly cite this poem.
Posted by Thurber
NWLA
Member since Aug 2013
15402 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:25 pm to
This feels like a Kafka thread
This post was edited on 10/24/14 at 10:26 pm
Posted by Carolina_Girl
South Cackalacky
Member since Apr 2012
23973 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:44 pm to
Love Robert Frost's poetry.

This post was edited on 10/24/14 at 11:07 pm
Posted by GEAUXT
Member since Nov 2007
29210 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:49 pm to
Finally some sophistication on this board of heathens
Posted by drunkenpunkin
Louisiana
Member since Dec 2011
7659 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 10:56 pm to
You do know that's Robert Frost, right?
Posted by CE Tiger
Metairie
Member since Jan 2008
41584 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:05 pm to
i had to memorize this shite in like 7th grade and still know it word by word. fricking weird


that and the homework machine by shell silverstein that i had to memorize in 3rd grade
Posted by Carolina_Girl
South Cackalacky
Member since Apr 2012
23973 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:06 pm to
Actually, yes. I don't know why I typed Burns. I also like Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening by Frost.

I fixed my other post. Thanks for pointing that out. Didn't even realize I'd done that.
Posted by Big L
Houston
Member since Sep 2005
5406 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:12 pm to
quote:

shell silverstein


Only one l in shel.
Posted by CroakaBait
Gulf Coast of the Land Mass
Member since Nov 2013
3972 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:16 pm to
quote:

had to memorize this shite in like 7th grade and still know it word by word. fricking weird 

I can still remember that "Whan that Aprill" Canterbury Tales bullshite, but I'd much rather be able to remember this one.
Posted by Jim Rockford
Member since May 2011
98128 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:19 pm to
There once was a girl from Nantucket...
Posted by drunkenpunkin
Louisiana
Member since Dec 2011
7659 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:20 pm to
Wasn't sure if you were saying that poem was Burns or just sharing your love for Burns.
Posted by Minnesota Tiger
Member since Oct 2005
4414 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:40 pm to
This poem reminds me I have miles to go before I sleep. Miles to go before I sleep.
Posted by ZacAttack
The Land Mass
Member since Oct 2012
6416 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:47 pm to
Hello butterfly
Posted by The_Velour_Fog
I pay rent on a rundown place
Member since Aug 2005
487 posts
Posted on 10/24/14 at 11:49 pm to
Someone needs to make a sign for gameday tomorrow that says om has miles to go before they sleep
Posted by TigerstuckinMS
Member since Nov 2005
33687 posts
Posted on 10/25/14 at 12:42 am to
I've always viewed this poem as one that is ambiguous. There's no good. There's no bad. There is simply the poet laying out that there are two choices and you pick one. Regardless of the outcome that happens because of the choice you made, that choice makes all the difference. It is simply the outcome of a choice; the road less traveled is the path through life that you have chosen for yourself. Nobody else travels that path.

Frost's beauty was that he was able to capture that whole idea and write it down in a concise form that people will continuously misinterpret and think about.
This post was edited on 10/25/14 at 12:52 am
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