The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
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.
— Robert Frost
This is read out to Project Trust Volunteers at the ceilidh before they set out on their placements. I found the imagery impactful because of my choice to Volunteer in the first place, which (based on who I was at the time) was pretty out of character, and took a lot of agonising.
I love how this piece manages to span both a moment in time and the lingering consequences that a single decision can have. We make choices all the time but there are only a few moments in my life that I think about when I hear this poem. And above all else, I think about the wood-panelling of the Hebridean Centre, bucks fizz in hand and thinking about things to come.
Featured Image: Branching paths of the Wild Wall at Gubeikou, rural Beijing. Perhaps a bit on the nose, but it was fun looking back and thinking about all the choices I had to get right to end up on that stunning section of Wall, in second year of university, with Evie and Kirsten.
TJC 