Walking in the woods

 

 

When the seasons change, I seem to pick up more poetry to read. A favorite source is Bartleby Bookstore's website. They feature many poets and their work in an easily accessible format. Following is a popular favorite and even with the old-style language, the message still rings true.
 
CITATION:
Frost, Robert. Mountain Interval. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1920; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/119/. [11/4/2012].

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Robert Frost (1874–1963).  The Road Not Taken. Mountain Interval.  1920.

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.