Feature photo: British reserve trench during the Battle of Arras | © Tilloy (April 10, 1917)
Robert FrostIn my opinion, his poems are among the best in poetry. The poem that follows was written in 1915 and is intended to commemorate walks with the fellow poet Edward Thomas remember, whereby Frost probably also refers to his poem "Roads", which was not published until 1916.
Although Frost intended to "poke fun" at the walks he took with Thomas, the poem was taken from the start by both the readers and Thomas himself as very serious and, moreover, very quickly in connection with current political events brought. Thomas opted for military service and died at Arras in France in 1917.
The road not taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I couldn't travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it lies 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 passing there
Had worn them really about the same,And both that morning lay equally
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked 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
Robert Frost
Somewhere ages and ages henceforth:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I conclude two things from this: first, one should never underestimate the impact of poetry and second, each poem takes on a life of its own depending on the reader.