Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent 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 the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept 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

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The entire poem is a metaphor for a major decision that the author has to make in his life. The fork in the path represents the two options in the decision; the less travelled one represents the path that fewer take in life. The author looking down the road is him trying to foresee or calculate the implications and consequences of his decision; the bend in the undergrowth represents the unpredictability of this decision. “way leads on to way” represents the irreversibility of some of the decisions that are made and also how they lead on to more and more choices. The author’s sigh is his regret that he cannot explore each “path”.

I like this poem because it accurately illustrates the difficult decisions that one has to make in life and also the huge implications of some these decisions. However, it also depicts what could be the author’s regret or sadness at not being able to experience both paths to find out which would be the better one or making the wrong decision or “missing out” the benefits of the other choice, if any.