The Almost Universally Misinterpreted Poem "The Road Not Taken" and the Fascinating Story Behind It

Published 2019-11-27
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In this video:

Robert Frost is one of the most critically acclaimed American poets of the 20th century, which is a roundabout way of saying you almost certainly studied one of his poems in school. Most likely, it was a short piece called The Road Not Taken- a poem famous for being one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted poems ever written, and a testament to how twisted the meaning of something can be by taking a quote out of context. Oh, and it also played a small role in the death of the guy it was written about.

Want the text version?: www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2015/09/robert-fr…

Sources:

www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/29/robert-frost…
www.nytimes.com/2008/05/11/books/review/Miles-t.ht…
www.businessinsider.com/frosts-road-not-taken-poem…
www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/08/15/orange_is_…
www.sparknotes.com/poetry/frost/section7.rhtml
books.google.co.uk/books?id=amUdiZLtBJcC&pg=PA137&…
www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536
www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/a_f/frost/road…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Thomas_%28poet%29
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost

All Comments (21)
  • @Runeknight101
    So instead of being about choosing the road less traveled, it's actually about not regretting the direction you took in life.
  • Too bad the English teacher who gave me a C for making THIS EXACT ARGUMENT on a middle school term paper is dead or I would share this with her.
  • The problem with most English teachers is that they award more points for answering just the way they teach us and not how we understand a poem.
  • @SlicerJen
    So frost trolled the world accidentally while trolling his friend intentionally. Classic frost.
  • @maniesh
    "if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there" ~George Harrison
  • If both roads were equally traveled before the protagonist chose, then the road not taken is definitely less traveled after the choice is made.
  • @Minihopa
    Robert Frost said, “Poetry is one permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another.” he definitely had fun with his readers
  • @theboyoofoly
    When I read this poem as a child, I interpreted it as meaning "find your own path, don't follow the herd" as an adult I reread it, and the only message I took away from it was regret...
  • @davidasher22
    “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there’s still time to change the road you’re on.. “
  • @allanmarks2150
    Alice in Wonderland -
    “Cat: Where are you going?
    Alice: Which way should I go?
    Cat: That depends on where you are going.
    Alice: I don’t know.
    Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
  • @sidbell929
    I've always thought it was just a roundabout way of saying "The grass is always greener..."
  • I used to babysit a wee fellow. When taking him out in the stroller whenever we came to a corner I would ask him, which way? He would point and off we would go. Loved those random trips to wherever.
  • It doesn't matter what path you take in life: you'll just screw things up in an entirely different way and have a completely different set of regrets.
  • @AccidentalNinja
    "Hey friend, I wrote this poem mocking you, would you like to read it?"
  • @MurderMostFowl
    I always thought that the person in the poem was saying that he didn’t actually see any difference in the path and that he admitted that he would later pretend it was different to make it seem more special. People adding meaning to their past when it suits their own narrative.
  • @eyuin5716
    Robert Frost’s interpretation is probably the right one.
  • @jbrisby
    I thought it was just a melancholy observation that every choice you make opens new possibilities and closes others, and nobody ever gets to know what might have been.