What follows are three readings of ‘The road not taken’ by
Robert Frost. I would suggest that there are many more simple yet nuanced ways
of reading these words. I do not believe that Mr. Frost himself thought that he
had once and for all answered the questions he posed in this poem.
In the first reading, I go dark. This is a very somber,
real, possibly tragic way to hear these words. In the very end, when I finally see my baleful eye, I find I must
laugh. We may even be dying from the choices we have made, but we must, in the
end, not take ourselves too seriously.
In the second reading consider that Paul Simon sang that
there are fifty ways to leave your lover. I suggest, possibly with Mr. Frost, that fifty
is only the beginning, but he focuses more on a simpler question: should we
leave our lover or should we stay. In a sense, the series of photos taken in
Lawrence, Kansas asks: this way or another. Will it make a difference?
Finally, here is Robert Frost reading his own poem.
And of course, you can read it out loud to yourself and ask
yourself:
what do you hear in your own reading of these very fine words.
Robert
Frost (1874–1963). Mountain
Interval. 1920.
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The Road Not Taken
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