Tuesday, September 22, 2009

road less traveled??

i realize the amount of times this poem has been quoted, lived by, and used. but i'm talking about it, becuase i have some questions about the road less traveled by. i am taking a class by Dr. Rennie right now and he's taught us to look and read things differently. for example, looking at a beautiful painting and saying what is this? "a field, a flower, a beautiful skyline" rennie responds. "no. it's neurons and photons bouncing off the light and making images."
Now on to the poem. perhaps we are over doign this poem a little bit. myself included. maybe frost was taking a stroll through the park and saw a Y in the road. and becuase he's a poet, he has a way with words to make them beautiful and romantic to our ears. but really it sounds something like this...
i came to a Y in the road.
i coudln't figure out which road to take.
i looked into the road and didnt see anything in either.

they both looked traveled, but one moreso than the other.
i wondered if i took the less traveled road, if i'd come back.
i ended up taking the less traveled raod.
good road.

but if he'd written it like that, we wouldn't be talking about it today. all i am saying is that this is a little overdone. maybe he just wanted to go into town and was trying to find the quickest route. he took the road less traveled by and found a shortcut.
i realize how personal one can make this poem. but see it for it really is. words on a paper.

1 comment:

  1. Actually, you have essentially nailed it here, Gretchen. Frost is making a point about how we give meaning to a thing after the fact. In fact, the key line is that the roads had about the same level of wear; they were "worn really about the same." Later, when he's telling the story, he puts the spin on it--that he'd taken the less traveled road. There is no cosmic meaning, in other words; we make meaning out of things later in the act of interpretation--a very modern idea.

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