Lesson 15 The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

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.

（144 words）

Exercises

这首名诗《The Road Not Taken》形式是传统的抑扬格四音步，但音步可变（含有不少抑抑扬的成分）；每节的韵式为abaab。弗罗斯特写诗最大的特色就是善于运用眼前看似平淡无奇的事物，表达一个深刻的哲理。这正如他在一首诗中写的：“黄色的树林里分出两条路／可惜我不能同时去涉足／我选择了人迹更少的一条／这就造成了一切的差异。”诗人选择了诗歌，放下了在一所师范学校教书的职业以及那种可能平坦、安稳的生活。他对自己说：写诗吧，穷就穷吧，于是他就来了英国，在离伦敦不远的一个村子里找到了一座木板茅屋作为新家。

罗伯特·弗罗斯特（Robert Frost）堪称美国20世纪最受欢迎的诗人之一，是美国非官方的桂冠诗人。他一生致力于诗歌的创作，主要写作并出版了10部诗集。这一首是其第三部诗集《山的间隔》中的名篇。

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