The Road Not Taken

Life, conventional wisdom says, is defined by tipping point moments of crisis in which a person rises to that challenge and must decide what to do: to be a drone or an individual, to follow the herd or go their own way. For more than a century, readers have wanted this Frost poem to be inspirational. It is, after all, so metaphoric, so accessible in its language, so inviting with its regular rhythm and clever, predictable rhymes, so direct in its celebration of the triumphant individual willing to go his own way, to follow a path where others do not, the path less traveled. Life, the poem seems to encourage, can be shaped according to the decisions we make. Life is ours to design if we are willing to forsake the herd and follow our own inclinations That sense of courage and wisdom makes all the difference. Make every decision carefully, the poem argues, because life will not offer a second chance at the decision: “I doubt if I should ever come back” (Line 15). The poem seems tailor-made for commencement exercises, the closing lines—“I took the [road] less traveled by / And that has made all the difference” (Lines 19-20)—seem to cue thunderous and enthusiastic applause as idealistic young people prepare to go their own way.