Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Road Not Taken-Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, 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 travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.


One of my favorite poems, this one beautifuly reflects the inevitability of choice in our lives.
When our lives narrow down to choices, it is not always easy to make one… With every decision there is always a slight indecision & many ‘What-ifs’. We want the best of everything that we could have. Some choices turn out to be just the apt while some fill us with remorse & regret. And, once you’ve taken a decision, you often cannot go back.
A friend of mine once said to me, “If it has happened, it must be the best for you. If it wasn’t, it would not have happened.” This was said on an occasion when I was utterly uncertain about a choice that I had made.. I don’t think I completely understood it then or either believed in it. To me, I left the best behind.
However, it did give me the prudence to understand few things. We should always value what we have. Happiness & contentment can only be found if you look for them in what’s yours. Once you have made a choice, do believe in it with all your instinct & make the best of it.
As suggested in the last stanza of the poem,
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 travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
you’ll never know what a choice means until you have actually lived it.

1 comment:

_blank_ said...

You should read up the poem If by Rudyard Kipling .... another good one ...