by Chen-ou Liu
ahead, two roads diverged
in the dim woods
the journey was long
arriving at the fork
once again, I chose the road less traveled
déjà vu
I walk it fearlessly
The Solitary Journey
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Chen-ou,
I am on record. I love your poems and have said so. You are a poet’s poet. But, please. No more mis-rendering of what Robert Frost wrote. Readers. Go right now to his “The Road Not Taken.”
And both that morning equally lay.
And, that is what makes this a great poem. It is that some day I will say I took the one less traveled by. Isn’t that how it is? We look back and tell a tale… sometimes a tall one. Chen-ou, it says in The Poet’s Constitution that you can tell the tale as you wish. But, no need to once again choose the one less traveled since you did not do so the first time.
G.O.P. (no, not Republican, but Grumpy Old Poet),
Neal Whitman
Neal,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I like The Road Not Taken very much, a poem which once exerted its great influence on my decision to emigrate to Canada almost eight years ago.
In The Road Not Taken, there is no road less travelled and the speaker is actually facing two identical paths. This poem is more about the difficulty of having to make choices in any way, and less concerned with the celebration of individual autonomy.
However, on first reading, the content of The Road Not Taken seems seductively moralistic, and American:
” Two roads diverged in a wood, I ……
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
These lines above strike deep inside the American psyche, wrap the poem up, and become the core message: the virtues of self-reliance and personal independence.
Written in the spirit of haikai poetics, my poem, The Solitary Journey, especially the last two lines, tried to challenge/ parody the popular reading of Frost’s The Road Not Taken, and to reveal the spirit of Sisyphus.
Feel free to criticize my poem.
Best,
Chen-ou
Chen-ou,
Thank you for your comment on my comment, demonstrating once again that no two people read the same poem. Robert Frost would be pleased, as I hope you are re: the poem you wrote in response to his.
Amicus poeticae,
Neal
Neal, thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my reply.
Best,
Chen-ou