Robert Frost is a Liar

by CS Wagner

Have you ever heard the phrase: "The road less travelled"? You know what it means. Instead of following along with everyone else, the person has forged a path of their own. Is that what Robert Frost meant in his famous poem, The Road Not Taken? I don't think so. The following is the poem interspersed with commentary that explains, simply, what the poem is literally stating.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

I do not feel that there is much importance of the "yellow" wood.

And sorry I could not travel both

Setting the stage: A choice must be made.

And be one traveler, long I stood

The decision takes a long time because "long" he stood.

And looked down one as far as I could

He examined one path as much as he could.

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

He examined it to the point that it ended.

Then to the other, as just as fair,

The other path is "just as fair" as the first path.

And having perhaps the better claim,

He tries to tell himself that "perhaps" this path is better.

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

The path was a little grassy - not worn down.

Though as for that, the passing there

Reconsidering...

Had worn them really about the same,

Neither path is less traveled - both are worn the same.

And both that morning equally lay

One more time: the two paths are the same!

In leaves no step had trodden black.

And again: Neither one is traveled more!!!

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Since he cannot pick one over the other, he picks both. One now and one later.

Yet knowing how way leads to way,

Yes, one thing leads to another...

I doubted if I should ever come back.

True. How often do we get to make life decisions twice.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Note: he "shall" be telling this in the future. He is planning what he will say in the future.

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

In case you didn't get it in the last line, he is planning his response for some future conversation.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

Why does it stop at "I"? He stutters to emphasize that he is preparing a lie.

I took the one less traveled by,

The first part of his lie: neither one was less traveled.

And that has made all the difference.

The second part. He never tried the second path so he doesn't know what difference it made.

Now, next time someone tells you that they took the "road less traveled", you can smile to yourself and know that they are truly just a liar.