The Road Less Traveled By

I think we need a 'top ten poetry misconceptions' video John.

"The road less travelled" was the motto for my high school and it always bothered me. We looked at the poem so many times and never once did the teachers tell us this stuff. We were supposed to be proud that we went to this special high school, this road less travelled, and that we'd all be better because of it. I always looked at that line and went "Belle's dad in Beauty and the Beast took the road less travelled and he got attacked and then kidnapped." Do I regret the school I went to? No. But that doesn't change the fact that it made us sound like we thought we were better than everyone else because we took one path instead of another. There's no shame in taking a path many people have travelled, because they travel it for a reason, but there's also nothing wrong with making a new path, or trying the one less travelled. Your value as a person is not changed by which path you chose.

"A Co-CEO of a company that raises children, and mows lawns, and stuff" is probably the best name for parenthood i've ever heard.

"I'll tick the box for poetry. I'll be the only one. But if I don't, my guilt and I Will know the wrong I've done. It's just a little survey... It's just a little fun..." But here we are. You've done the thing, And something new's begun.

"Two roads diverged in a wood And I -- I used Google Maps And that was that"

Now I'm going to reread all my own poems to make sure I haven't inadvertently urged someone to die. Thanks for that uneasy feeling, John! But also, thank you for the creative lesson!

I fell in love with Robert Frost when I took a poetry writing class last winter term. I love the nuance, subtly, and hidden in plain sight messages he conveys. This poem is a definitely a fun one in that people so often interpret it to be the exact opposite of its meaning. The poem is an examination of how cognitive dissonance will often justify the choices we made after the fact, thus making it seem like the most obvious and best choice after all- despite the choice. It dwells on the futility of choices and our interpretations after the fact. If anything, it is a call to do what feels right by you without overthinking it, because in the end, you're probably going to justify it in your own mind anyway.

"i memorised the poem almost by accident" that's surely my favourite sentence that john uttered, for two reasons. the first is that john is exactly the person who would accidentally memorise a poem. and the concept of 'almost by accident.'

We all wonder where we'd be had we made different choices. I know I have. Often.

I love teaching this poem not (just) because Frost is so interesting to learn about or because it is a fairly accessible poem, but mostly so I can relate to the young minds that things are not always as they seem. Re-reading things with a new perspective is one of the best gifts of an educated mind. Thanks John!

Poetry gives me a headache sometimes but it's such an interesting medium; I love it, though it pains me.

dandy lions... good pun

Last year I was made to do a dreadful analysis of this poem and I, like the rest of my class wrote about the grand and wonderful road less taken. Except, by doing so and making our teacher very satisfied we were all not following the advice we had so carefully analyzed. But in that case, the road more taken got me an A, so I agree to disagree with classic ideal of this poem and choose to instead say "I'll take the road less taken when the other people choosing directions weren't very bright, otherwise, I'll just keep walking." If you know what I mean.

JOHN DONT REMIND ME THAT I HAVE TO CHOOSE WHERE TO GO TO COLLEGE VERY SOON

There once was a poet named "Frost", Who, with a friend, had gotten lost. A rough path to tread, His friend ended up dead. Perhaps a coin should have been tossed.

There is something VERY nice about having a spouse, a kid, and a van. I always thought being a famous novelist, or well-respected teacher would make me happy. But just writing stories and telling them to my husband and daughter makes me happy. What people outside my family think about me matters a lot less than I thought it would twenty years ago.

I would love to hear you read The Road Less Traveled in full. in fact I would love an audio collection of John Green reading poems of his choosing. I agree with Hank that I enjoy poetry more when it's read aloud to me by John (and in general).

I love this poem, but I think, like most people, you have missed the actually theme of the poem, which is the examination of choices retroactively. When ever Frost describes the two roads he says they are 'about the same'. There is no indication that one is less travelled than the other. Saying that he took the road 'less travelled by' seems more like a mocking of the self-righteous point of view of the narrator, and how he can justify his actions to be better or harder than the other choice. Another hint at this is the title. It is not 'The road less travelled' it is 'the road not taken' it too makes no indication the the narrator speaks true about one roads quality outweighing the other.

the beer can sword in the background makes me so happy!!

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