Robert Frost and his friend Edward Thomas used to go on a long walk, sometimes into the woods. Whenever they came point of divergence, Thomas used to think a lot about taking the road for further walk. After walking a little distance, Thomas used to say if they had taken the other road, it would have been better. This nature of Thomas irritated Robert Frost. So, in order to make fun of Thomas, he wrote this poem. It was disclosed by none other than the poet himself. Searching for deeper meaning is of no use here.
Summary of the poem.
A man walking on a road comes to a point where it diverged in to two paths. ( Two options in the journey of life ) Now, he has to make a choice. He feels sorry for not being able to have both the options, he stands and thinks deeply. He observes one. It went into the undergrowth. He observes the other. It is covered by grass indicating that it has not been used. This becomes the criterion for choosing the road. This shows that the man is not a traveler but an aimless wanderer. (Destination should have been the criterion for such decision. )
After walking a little further, the man comes to know that the other road is same as this. The yellow leaves fallen on those roads are still fresh, indicating that hardly anyone walked on them. Instead of walking on the road he has aleaalr chosen, he now thinks of the other road. He tells himself that he has kept it for another day. Even though he is convinced that once a man takes a path it is unlikely that he comes back to walk on that because the road he has taken leads to many roads further. He will have the choices in the future time not in the past.
After walking further the man regrets that he made a mistake of choosing the path less traveled by.
The last line of the poem leaves us baffled. We don't know what it implies. What difference his decision has made we don't know.
A little philosophy we can find in this poem is that a person should have clarity in decision making. Once a decision is taken we should not regret, nor should we lament that the other option was better. It is totally useless to think at that juncture. We should know our destination and that should set our decision making. One should not lament for what is lost.
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