"Do not follow where the path may lead... Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Robert Frost- Born March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California
- Father was from New England and mother was a Scottish teacher
- His father died in 1884
- Family moved to Salem, Hew Hampshire where his mother taught him and 34 others
- Frost then went to high school in Lawrence, Massachuttes in 1888
- Marries Elinor Miriam White at the age of 21
- Attended both Dartmouth College and Harvard University, but left
- He earned a living by farming and teaching
- In 1912, Frost moved back to New England with his family
- Frost was awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times and amost every major literary prize
- Went back to farming in New Hampshire and Vermont
- In 1920 he help found the Bread Loaf school of English at Middlebury College
- Was the first poet to ever read poetry at a presidential inauguration (John F. Kennedy)
- Died January 29, 1963, in Boston The Road Not Taken 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. Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem, "The Road Not Taken", has left its readers with many different interpretations. It is one's past, present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shade of the light that he will see the poem in. In any case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost's belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is. "And sorry I could not travel both..." It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler "looks down one as far as I could". The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going.
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