On the 98th Anniversary of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”

August 1 marks the anniversary of the original publication of what is likely Robert Frost’s most famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Here it is, as read by the author:

When I was in 8th grade, I was chosen to read this poem at our graduation ceremony. I spent ages memorizing the poem and practicing my delivery. During all that practice, I started to do something that I had not really done before. I thought about what it actually meant. I don’t know that I figured it out, but I spent time thinking about it. When it turned up in the lit anthology that I used with my Freshman comp students, I thought about it again. I discussed it with them, and they made me think a whole new set of thoughts.

It was quite an experience to go through this poem, line by line, with a group of students who shared English as a second language. For them, it was a completely new experience. They saw themselves in Frost’s words because they had followed the less traveled path and found their ways to a new home in a new country. They saw it as a poem full of hope, a sentiment that seems to be shared by this musician: