Revisiting The Road Not Taken

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by"

This famous line from a Robert Frost poem has reached cliche-like status because it is so often quoted. I stumbled upon the full poem today and was energized by it. You don't get the true effect of the quote without reading the poem in its entirety. It has been a good three or four years since I last read the poem, but I'm going to add it to my periodic reading list. Mr. Frost had true command of the English language. His poem says so much more than just the sum of the words.

The Road Not Taken, 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.