the Road not Taken翻译及赏析

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The Road Not Taken

《未选择的路》

罗伯特

?

弗罗斯特（

Robert

Frost

）生于

1874

年，卒于

1963

年，可能要算是

20

世纪美

国最受欢迎和爱戴的一位诗人了。

191 2

年，他弃农从文，从此成为了一名专业诗人。

他曾在

1961

年时受邀在约翰

?F?

肯尼迪总统的就职典礼上朗诵他的诗歌

——

《

The Gift

Outright

》

。而本次我为大家推荐的《

The Road Not Taken

》则是他最著名的一首诗歌。

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

黄色的树林里分出两条路

And sorry I could not travel both

可惜我不能同时去涉足

And be one traveler, long I stood

我在那路口久久伫立

And looked down one as far as I could

我向着一条路极目望去

To where it bent in the undergrown

直到它消失在丛林深处

Then took the other, as just as fair

但我却选了另外一条路

And having perhaps the better claim

它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

显得更诱人、更美丽

Though as for that the passing there

虽然在这两条小路上

Had worn them really about the same

都很少留下旅人的足迹

And both that morning equally lay

虽然那天清晨落叶满地

In leaves no step had trodden black

两条路都未经脚印污染

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

呵，留下一条路等改日再见！

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

但我知道路径延绵无尽头

I doubted if I should even come back.

恐怕我难以再回返

I shall be telling this with a sigh

也许多少年后在某个地方

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

我将轻声叹息把往事回顾

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---

一片树林里分出两条路

I took the one less traveled by,

而我选了人迹更少的一条

And that has made all the difference

从此决定了我一生的道路

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评论

1

：

the volume and is printed in italics. The title is often mistakenly given as

The poem has two recognized interpretations; one is a more literal interpretation, while the other is more ironic.

Readers often see the poem literally, as an expression of individualism. Critics typically view the poem as ironic.[1]

–

Road Not Taken,' perhaps the most famous example of Frost's own claims to conscious irony and 'the best example in all of

American poetry of a wolf

in sheep's clothing.'

–

and Frost himself warned

tricky poem

–

very tricky.

whom he used to take walks through the forest (Thomas always complained at the end that they should have taken a different

path) and seemed amused at this certain interpretation of the poem as inspirational.

Literal interpretation

According

to

the

literal

(and

more

common)

interpretation,

the

poem

is

inspirational,

a

paean

to

individualism

and

non-conformism.

The

poem

consists

of

four

stanzas.

In

the

first

stanza,

the

speaker

describes

his

position.

He

has

been

out

walking

in

the

woods and comes to two roads, and he stands looking as far down each one as he can see. He would like to try out both, but

doubts he could do that, so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about

which road to take.

Ironic interpretation

The

ironic

interpretation,

widely

held

by

critics,[1][5]

is

that

the

poem

is

instead

about

regret

and

personal

myth-making,

rationalizing our decisions.

In this interpretation, the final two lines:

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

are ironic : the choice made little or no difference at all, the speaker's protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the

second and third stanzas that both paths may be equally worn and equally leaf-covered, and it is only in his future recollection

that he will call one road

The

sigh,

widely

interpreted

as

a

sigh

of

regret,

might

also

be

interpreted

ironically:

in

a

1925

letter

to

Cristine

Yates

of

Dickson, Tennessee, asking about the sigh, Frost replied:

think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life.

Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life. There is never a straight path

that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended

to convey, his poem,

and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shade of the light that he will see the poem in. In any

case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost's belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he

is.

the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in

the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler

may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his vision and he can never see where it is going to

lead. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going.

just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim.

was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seemed that the majority of people took the other path therefore

he calls it

type of personality he has, one that does not want to necessarily follow the crowd but do more of what has never been done,

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what is new and different.

the ground and since the time they had fallen no one had yet to pass by on this road. Perhaps Frost does this because each

time a person comes to the point where they have to make a choice, it is new to them, somewhere they have never been and

they tend to feel as though no one else had ever been there either.

both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but

decision is not just a temporary one and he

acknowledging that what he chooses now will affect every other choice he makes afterward. Once you have performed an act

or spoken a word that crystallizes who you are, there is no turning back and it cannot be undone. Once again at the end of the

poem the regret hangs over the traveler like a heavy cloud about to burst. He realizes that at the end of his life,

ages and ages hence

remains proud of his decision and he recognizes that it was this path that he chose that made him turn out the way and he did

and live his life the way in which he lived.

what was most important, what really made the difference, is that he did what he wanted, even if it meant taking the road less

traveled. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be the same man he is now. There are many equally valid meanings to this poem and Robert

Frost

may

have

intended

this.

He

may

have

been

trying

to

achieve

a

universal

understanding.

In

other

words,

there

is

no

judgment, no specificity, no moral. There is simply a narrator who makes a decision in his life that had changed the direction

of his life from what it may have otherwise been. It allows all readers from all different experiences to relate to the poem.

评论

2

：

Robert

Frost

is

one

of

the

finest

of

rural New England’s

20th

century

pastoral

poets.

His poems

are

great

combination

of

wisdom, harmony and serenity. They are simple at first sight, but demand readers for deep reading to grasp further meaning

beyond surface.

The famous poem of Frost The Road Not Taken is my favorite. This poem consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme

scheme

is

ABAAB.

the

rhymes

are

strict

and

masculine,

with

notable

exception

of

the

last

line.

There

are

four

stressed

syllables each line, varying on iambic tetrameter base.

The Road Not Taken tells about life choice. Man’s life is metaphorically related to a journey filled with twists and turns. O

ne

has to consider a lot before making a wise choice. Though the diverged roads seem identical, they actually lead to different

directions, which symbolize different fates.

A less than rigorous look at the poem may lead one to believe that Frost’s moral is embodied in those lines. The poem is take

n

as a call to independence, preaching originality and Emersonian self-reliance. The poem deconstructs its conclusion stanza by

stanza.

At the beginning of this poem, the poet shows the inability of human beings to foresee the future, especially the results of

choices. At

the

split

in

the

road,

the

speaker

looks

far down

both

the

two

paths

to

see

what

each

of

the

paths

will

bring.

However, his sight is limited; his eyes can only see the path until it bends into “the undergrowth”. Man is free to choose, b

ut

doesn’t know beforehand the results of hi

s choice.

Both

roads

diverge

into

a

“yellow

wood”

and

appear

to

be

“about

the

same”

in

their

purposes.

The

first

path

is

a

more

common route. The other is less traveled, which “was grass and wanted wear”. The poet presents a conflict here—

the decision

between the common easy path and exceptional challenging path. The two different paths signify two different kinds of lives.

Choosing the common easy path, people will feel at ease and live in safety, because the outcome is predictable. However, that

kind of l

ife may be less exciting and lack of novelty. While choosing the “less traveled” road represents the gamble of facing

a more difficult path in lives. This forms contrast with familiar lives of most people. People hope to achiever a satisfactory

and interesting life on this road. The wish is good, but reality is full of challenges and uncertainties. Nobody can be sure of

the outcome. After vacillating between the two roads, the poet finally decides to take the road “less traveled by” and leads

a

different life from common people. This may indicate his choice to be a poet, other than other jobs. The poet makes up his

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mind to dedicate himself to poem writing, which is regarded as a less common career.

Once the decision is made, there will be no way to return to the original choice to experience the other route. So the poet

utters “Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.” The made choice is irrevocable, so man

must be careful and rational before making decisions. At the same time, he must be courageous enough to shoulder the result

of his choice, whether it is good or not.

Frost presents man’s limitation to explore life’s different possibilities. The poet “sighs” at the end of the poem. For at th

e time

of one’s choice, he must give up other choices and miss some other things. At the same time, he “sighs” with lamentation,

pondering what he may have missed on the other path and that he doesn’t have opportunities to experience another kind of

life.

The Road Not Taken is interpreted universally as a representation of two similar choices. At the beginning, man may face two

identical forks, which symbolize the nexus of free choice and fate. They contrast increasingly with each other as they diverge

in their separate directions. Man is fr

ee to choose, but it’s beyond his ability to foretell the consequences. Man can choose a

common route which guarantees a safe and reliable life. He can also choose a less common one which is unknown, unique

and stands out above other else’s. All in all, ma

n must be responsible for his choice and has courage to shoulder the result. He

can never go back to the past and experience other possibilities. It is impossible to predict the outcome of decisions, so it is

essential for him to make wise decisions after considering, selecting and questioning which selection will provide him with

fulfillment.

The Road Not Taken is full of philosophical overtones. This poem should be read as a warning. Man should consider a lot

before making choices and reflect over the cho

ices he has made to discover “all the differences”.

评论

3

：

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” has been one of the most analyzed, quoted, anthologized poems in American poetry. A

wide-spread interpretation claims that the speaker in the poem is promoting individualism and non-conformity.

A Tricky Poem

Frost claims that he wrote this poem about his friend Edward Thomas, with whom he had walked many times in the woods

near London. Frost has said that while walking they would come to different paths and after choosing one, Thomas would

always fret wondering what they might have missed by not taking the other path.

About the poem, Frost asserted,

correct. The poem has been and continues to be used as an inspirational poem, one that to the undiscerning eye seems to be

encouraging self-reliance, not following where others have led.

But a close reading of the poem proves otherwise. It does not moralize about choice; it simply says that choice is inevitable,

but you never know what your choice will mean until you have lived it.

First Stanza

–

Describes Situation

The poem consists of four stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker describes his position. He has been out walking the woods

and comes to two roads, and he stands looking as far down each one as he can see. He would like to try out both, but doubts

he could to that, so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about which

road to take.

Second Stanza

–

Decides to Take Less- Traveled Road

The speaker had looked down the first one “to where it bent in the undergrowth,” and in the second stanza, he reports that he

decided

to

take

the

other

path,

because

it

seemed

to

have

less

traffic

than

the

first.

But

then

he

goes

on

to

say

that

they

actually were very similarly worn. The second one that he took seems less traveled, but as he thinks about it, he realizes that

they were “really about the same.” Not exactly that same but only “about the same.”

Third Stanza

–

Continues Description of Roads

The third stanza continues with the cogitation about the possible differences between the two roads. He had noticed that the

leaves were both fresh fallen on them both and had not been walked on, but then again claims that maybe he would come

back and also walk the first one sometime, but he doubted he would be able to, because in life one thing leads to another and

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