2 - In Favor of Cliches and Robert Frost

In my introductory post I wrote that my blog was going to be about a journey (from being a student to professor). This reminded me of another figure of speech," the road." I recently reread Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken.” Many interpret the poem as being an invitation to be original. Yet the metaphor, of taking a road less traveled, is not original.

 I read on many sites that according to Frost the poem was ironic, because the two roads were similar. Only after the fact we claim that our choice was an act of originality: we chose that path because it was “less trodden,” and our choice “made all the difference.”

However the poem could be about our right to make ordinary choices and feel they are important. Not all choices have to be about something tremendous, about climbing Mount Everest. We don't have to be heroes to be called to make a choice. And, we can use the word “path,” and, in my case, the word “journey,” even if they are images well trodden, and used before.

Maybe Frost, a man who had bouts of pessimism, wanted to mock people who thought of themselves as subjects of momentous decision making. However, ironically the poem ended up being important for many people who needed courage.

The poem also afforded intellectual pleasure to many readers who analyzed it to try and reconcile its ambiguous meaning – that both path were used the same, or that the importance of following the second path was only emphasized in the retelling. A poet can write a great poem even if he thinks he is writing a mockery.

And, who makes the poem, the writer or the reader? A professor of mine at DVC told us that according to some critics, "All reading is misreading." I think we all wonderfully misinterpreted this poem, and hopefully we are wonderfully misinterpreting life, by giving it meaning and importance.