Two Roads As Seen By Me.

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.

What does this poem by Robert Frost really convey? I am sure it should be left to individual interpretation and today I am going to make mine. It is obviously about making choices in life. Life-altering choices. Choices, the outcomes of which we are seldom aware of. Choices that could be based on instinct and may not be well thought but nevertheless they matter to a person at the moment.

I feel the author is wanting the readers to take a lot of liberty in making individual choices while expressing his dilemmas of making one in his life. He has obviously reached a crossroads and is now to decide which way he would like to go. At that moment it is absolutely unclear what will be the result of the choice and in fact, towards the end, he also mentions that either of the paths would have been equally better. But then, what is interesting is that he bases his choice on mere instinct without feeling perturbed about the consequence and accepts towards the end he could have well taken the other road/ made the other choice. This, in turn, implies the necessity and the role of circumstances in life which make us chose what we chose, sometimes, especially when we are making difficult choices.

The poem sort of gives leverage to those who cannot make choices that will be accepted well in the beginning but nevertheless make them and eventually learn to accept whatever they chose because probably that was best for them. It in a way attempts to take away the importance of always wanting to be strong in life while not feeling weak about it all the same and this dynamic is particularly interesting. It helps a person see the truth for himself without bothering about different perspectives because that way one can own up one’s decision.

It is interesting that the poet also expresses his need for wanting to travel both paths and in that admits his vulnerability of not being able to make the choice initially while being aware that he needs to make one. It is also obvious that the poet considers one path better than the other and only retrospectively says that his choice did make a difference which sort of puts a responsibility on the one who is making the choice to own up his or her decisions as one can seldom see the outcome of the choices that they make immediately. But the ambiguity and diplomacy in his decision making are evident when he expresses that he is open to coming back to the path which he has left some other day and that probably the path which he has chosen will effectively lead him there.

Maybe he is trying to wade off the fear of failure but there is this need in the author to be able to justify his actions although apparently, he is trying to demonstrate just the opposite I feel. Or maybe he is genuinely confused about what it is that he should be doing as he does not have enough clarity and the justifications are a mere reflection of the uncertainty that he experiences when he prepares himself for making the choice.

Either way, he is conflicted and it most certainly is a life-altering choice for him.