What is the meaning of "The Road Not Taken" by 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.

 

The color yellow is controversial today. In the time of Robert Frost though, it would have meant someone were afraid ("yellow bellied") or a coward ("you're yellow").

 

I love that poem. Since I read it last night, it has provoked a multitude of thoughts and memories.

I saw it as four distinct stages in life, between mid teens and retirement, with the physical roads and bends being used as the perfect metaphor.
The final two lines of the third verse seemed to confirm my thoughts. And then that final line.

Taking myself as an example. In my younger days I had 3 career ambitions, to become a concert pianist, to become a cardiothoracic surgeon, or to seek a career in film or theater as a design engineer.

Fate possibly made my choice, after taking a part time job time job at the cinema. Rather than sell the ice cream or tear the tickets, because of my age, 13, the manager locked me away in the projection rooms.
Fate took its second turn a few months later, when both the projectionists went sick on the same day and the manager asked me to try to run the film.
I4 rolls of film including adverts and trailers, all in different screen ratios, auditorium lighting and curtains and music in the intervals. The projectors were the same model as in my avatar picture and twice my height, needing to be fed with carbon rods to produce the light.
Somehow I managed to blank out in my mind the 8,000 members of the audience that day. The whole thing was utterly terrifying.
Never in my wildest dream did I imagine that I would be doing that for the next 55 years, including around 100 premiers, 14 of which were attended by our late queen.

My second choice was the first to go out of the window, people die in operating theatres and I don't think that I could have coped.
However I did still qualify in cardiothoracic surgery as a research doctor. It was useful during the recessions.

My first choice, well, I still play the piano, but I am certain that no one would pay to watch or listen. LOL


Now back to the poem,
The more I read it, the more I see my life and choices personified in those 4 verses.
Choices are far more than skin deep, if any one had changed, I would not have met Jane, had our 3 children and lived on Wimbledon.
Not to mention, I would not have met the person who introduced me to HF.

 

For me its not taking the easy route. Take on the challenge and reap the rewards. It may scare you but sometimes we gotta do what scares us to grow as a person.