Sunday, July 31, 2011

How does this poem show a dilemma?

The dilemma of this poem is for us! The dilemma is deciding what Robert Frost meant in his poem 'A Road Not Taken.'As so many people respond so differently to this (including some of the many 'learned critics' who have been cited here and in other questions and answers) we might as well all say how we individually respond to the poem, as has been done by various posters. We can remember that poetry is subjective - we all arrive at a poem from different directions, we 'have traveled different roads', carry different emotional baggage and have had infinite variety of life experiences.


I tend to veer away from the (perfectly valid) idea that Frost is saying it doesn't matter which road you take. For me that it 'made all the difference' doesn't fit here. I perceive the poet saying that we need to look to the future and the past when we choose what paths in life to take. The future - we need to look into the road well to discern where it might take us. The past - how will we look back (and others) on the decision we took?


Frost is sad that he cannot 'have it all' like all of us. A choice has to be made. Luckily for him he made the right one. (Poetry?) Perhaps it is irrelevant that it was the less traveled one. The point was it made him happy so it is being happy with the choice we make that is important. It is the satisfaction that is relevant not the road.


We also might want to remember that the title of the poem is 'The Road NOT Taken' so does it matter so much about the one he took? He's talking about the one he Didn't take.


Here is a link describing Frost's career towards the end of his life,looking back.

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