My favourite poem.
Saturday, 22 January 2011
The road not takenTWO 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. 20
This poem used many figurative language to succession despite the lack of content in a twenty line poem. Two main figurative languages that he used to succession. Firstly, the word road is one of them. On the surface, simply, it means a course for traveling. But, the author has also chosen it to represent the many choices in life in this life lesson. "In leaves no step had trodden black" is another one where figurative language is used effectively. Simply, it says that the path was covered with many fallen leaves that was not stepped on. Think deeper and you will realise that the writer is trying to say that the path, which is the longer one, is not often taken by anyone because everyone else looks at the short term benefit of saving time, therefore choosing the other path. That is something that the author disagree with and thinks that by taking the longer road, it will make a positive difference compared to the shorter way.
Personally, I like this poem a lot as I find it very meaningful compared to the rest. Unlike most poems which just describe nature and how they feel at that point of time, this poem is just like a short life lesson. The poem is about how the easier and shorter route might not always be the one that you should take because it simply just might not be as rewarding as the longer route. To him, that is a lot more significant and makes a larger difference compared to the time spent walking on the route. I think that is something we can all learn from. Do not take shortcuts, it is not all about the result, it is about the process too.