The Road Not Taken 《未选择的路》
罗伯特•弗罗斯特（Robert Frost）生于1874年，卒于1963年，可能要算是20世纪美国最受欢迎和爱戴的一位诗人了。1912年，他弃农从文，从此成为了一名专业诗人。他曾在1961年时受邀在约翰•F•肯尼迪总统的就职典礼上朗诵他的诗歌——《The Gift Outright》。而本次我为大家推荐的《The Road Not Taken》则是他最著名的一首诗歌。
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood 黄色的树林里分出两条路
And sorry I could not travel both 可惜我不能同时去涉足
And be one traveler, long I stood 我在那路口久久伫立
And looked down one as far as I could 我向着一条路极目望去
To where it bent in the undergrown 直到它消失在丛林深处
Then took the other, as just as fair 但我却选了另外一条路
And having perhaps the better claim 它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂
Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 显得更诱人、更美丽
Though as for that the passing there 虽然在这两条小路上
Had worn them really about the same 都很少留下旅人的足迹
And both that morning equally lay 虽然那天清晨落叶满地
In leaves no step had trodden black 两条路都未经脚印污染
Oh, I kept the first for another day! 呵，留下一条路等改日再见！
Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 但我知道路径延绵无尽头
I doubted if I should even come back.恐怕我难以再回返
I shall be telling this with a sigh 也许多少年后在某个地方
Somewhere ages and ages hence: 我将轻声叹息把往事回顾
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--- 一片树林里分出两条路
I took the one less traveled by, 而我选了人迹更少的一条
And that has made all the difference 从此决定了我一生的道路
评论1：
"The Road Not Taken" is a poem by Robert Frost, published in 1916 in the collection Mountain Interval, it is the first poem in the volume and is printed in italics. The title is often mistakenly given as "The Road Less Traveled", from the penultimate line: "I took the one less traveled by".
The poem has two recognized interpretations; one is a more literal interpretation, while the other is more ironic.
Readers often see the poem literally, as an expression of individualism. Critics typically view the poem as ironic.[1] – "'The Road Not Taken,' perhaps the most famous example of Frost's own claims to conscious irony and 'the best example in all of American poetry of a wolf in sheep's clothing.'"[2] – and Frost himself warned "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem – very tricky."[3] Frost intended the poem as a gentle jab at his great friend and fellow poet Edward Thomas with whom he used to take walks through the forest (Thomas always complained at the end that they should have taken a different path) and seemed amused at this certain interpretation of the poem as inspirational.
Literal interpretation
According to the literal (and more common) interpretation, the poem is inspirational, a paean to individualism and non-conformism.
The poem consists of four stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker describes his position. He has been out walking in the woods and comes to two roads, and he stands looking as far down each one as he can see. He would like to try out both, but doubts he could do that, so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about which road to take.
Ironic interpretation
The ironic interpretation, widely held by critics,[1][5] is that the poem is instead about regret and personal myth-making, rationalizing our decisions.
In this interpretation, the final two lines:
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
are ironic : the choice made little or no difference at all, the speaker's protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the second and third stanzas that both paths may be equally worn and equally leaf-covered, and it is only in his future recollection that he will call one road "less traveled by".
The sigh, widely interpreted as a sigh of regret, might also be interpreted ironically: in a 1925 letter to Cristine Yates of Dickson, Tennessee, asking about the sigh, Frost replied: "It was my rather private jest at the expense of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life."
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. "Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim." What made it have the better claim is that "it was grassland wanted wear." It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seemed that the majority of people took the other path therefore he calls it "the road less traveled by". The fact that the traveler took this path over the more popular, secure one indicates the type of personality he has, one that does not want to necessarily follow the crowd but do more of what has never been done, what is new and different. "And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black." The leaves had covered the ground and since the time they had fallen no one had yet to pass by on this road. Perhaps Frost does this because each time a person comes to the point where they have to make a choice, it is new to them, somewhere they have never been and they tend to feel as though no one else had ever been there either. "I kept the first for another day!" The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but "knowing how way leads on to way", the speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one and he "doubted if I should ever come back." This is his common sense speaking and acknowledging that what he chooses now will affect every other choice he makes afterward. Once you have performed an act or spoken a word that crystallizes who you are, there is no turning back and it cannot be undone. Once again at the end of the poem the regret hangs over the traveler like a heavy cloud about to burst. He realizes that at the end of his life, "somewhere ages and ages hence", he will have regrets about having never gone back and traveling down the roads he did not take. Yet he remains proud of his decision and he recognizes that it was this path that he chose that made him turn out the way and he did and live his life the way in which he lived. "I took the road less traveled by and that had made all the difference." To this man, what was most important, what really made the difference, is that he did what he wanted, even if it meant taking the road less traveled. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be the same man he is now. There are many equally valid meanings to this poem and Robert Frost may have intended this. He may have been trying to achieve a universal understanding. In other words, there is no judgment, no specificity, no moral. There is simply a narrator who makes a decision in his life that had changed the direction of his life from what it may have otherwise been. It allows all readers from all different experiences to relate to the poem.
评论2：
Robert Frost is one of the finest of rural New England’s 20th century pastoral poets. His poems are great combination of wisdom, harmony and serenity. They are simple at first sight, but demand readers for deep reading to grasp further meaning beyond surface.
The famous poem of Frost The Road Not Taken is my favorite. This poem consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB. the rhymes are strict and masculine, with notable exception of the last line. There are four stressed syllables each line, varying on iambic tetrameter base.
The Road Not Taken tells about life choice. Man’s life is metaphorically related to a journey filled with twists and turns. One has to consider a lot before making a wise choice. Though the diverged roads seem identical, they actually lead to different directions, which symbolize different fates.
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