Road Less Travelled

We studied this poem long long ago in English class and as I listened to my teacher explain the profound meaning behind the lines and interpret it so eloquently, I knew this was something that would remain very close to me. English class was definitely a favorite time of day but of course lunch break was the uncontested winner! Lunch boxes of friends with so many different varieties of food waiting to be tried - was there even a contest there?

Looking back, seems like I have been real lucky to have had fantastic language teachers from grade school through college. They brought with them so much knowledge, a great love for the language, its nuances and of course they were all well versed in English literature. Most times we had so much difficulty just keeping with the flow of their thoughts and scribbling furiously next to the line they were explaining in depth. The pages where the text book had poems especially would be almost impossible to make sense of. There was so much crammed scribbling on the free space to ensure I would not forget a certain meaning or explanation.

Sometimes they picked volunteers to interpret a line and if by chance it was me, I wonder how I kept my wits around me and said something that actually made sense. On top of it, if the teacher complimented me on it - it was a red letter day in the history books of course!

Robert Frost sure knew how to write about such deep subject matter using simple words that hit home every time I pore over the lines. I cant seem to remember when I read this poem for the first time but every single time, the words strike a chord without fail.

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 onto 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 took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost