The Road Less Traveled By

In which Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" sends John down the wrong edge of the river, which then leads to a consideration of the poem, Frost's inspiration Edward Thomas, making choices, and how/whether literature can actually matter.

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[Sentient_Blueberry_Muffin]

I think we need a 'top ten poetry misconceptions' video John.

[plainoutofthisworld]

"The road less travelled" was the motto for my high school and it always bothered me. We looked at the poem so many times and never once did the teachers tell us this stuff. We were supposed to be proud that we went to this special high school, this road less travelled, and that we'd all be better because of it. I always looked at that line and went "Belle's dad in Beauty and the Beast took the road less travelled and he got attacked and then kidnapped." Do I regret the school I went to? No. But that doesn't change the fact that it made us sound like we thought we were better than everyone else because we took one path instead of another. There's no shame in taking a path many people have travelled, because they travel it for a reason, but there's also nothing wrong with making a new path, or trying the one less travelled. Your value as a person is not changed by which path you chose.

[Twosocks]

I fell in love with Robert Frost when I took a poetry writing class last winter term. I love the nuance, subtly, and hidden in plain sight messages he conveys. This poem is a definitely a fun one in that people so often interpret it to be the exact opposite of its meaning. The poem is an examination of how cognitive dissonance will often justify the choices we made after the fact, thus making it seem like the most obvious and best choice after all- despite the choice. It dwells on the futility of choices and our interpretations after the fact.

If anything, it is a call to do what feels right by you without overthinking it, because in the end, you're probably going to justify it in your own mind anyway.

[Thiefree]

"I'll tick the box for poetry.
I'll be the only one.
But if I don't, my guilt and I
Will know the wrong I've done.
It's just a little survey...
It's just a little fun..."
But here we are. You've done the thing,
And something new's begun.

[tcoxyerd]

"A Co-CEO of a company that raises children, and mows lawns, and stuff" is probably the best name for parenthood i've ever heard.

[stiofanobriain]

Now I'm going to reread all my own poems to make sure I haven't inadvertently urged someone to die. Thanks for that uneasy feeling, John! But also, thank you for the creative lesson!

[ModestGirl]

I love teaching this poem not (just) because Frost is so interesting to learn about or because it is a fairly accessible poem, but mostly so I can relate to the young minds that things are not always as they seem. Re-reading things with a new perspective is one of the best gifts of an educated mind. Thanks John!

[SweetChuckPi]

"Two roads diverged in a wood
And I -- I used Google Maps
And that was that"

[XPimKossibleX]

"i memorised the poem almost by accident"
that's surely my favourite sentence that john uttered, for two reasons. the first is that john is exactly the person who would accidentally memorise a poem. and the concept of 'almost by accident.'

[thewinterizzy]

Poetry gives me a headache sometimes but it's such an interesting medium; I love it, though it pains me.

[dontforgettobeacat]

I would love to hear you read The Road Less Traveled in full. in fact I would love an audio collection of John Green reading poems of his choosing. I agree with Hank that I enjoy poetry more when it's read aloud to me by John (and in general).

[alyssapike]

I love that these people exist. And I love hearing them talk about things they love. This is the happiest channel on Youtube. Thank you guys for being who you are so unapologetically. I love it.

[nicolealexis]

Last year I was made to do a dreadful analysis of this poem and I, like the rest of my class wrote about the grand and wonderful road less taken. Except, by doing so and making our teacher very satisfied we were all not following the advice we had so carefully analyzed. But in that case, the road more taken got me an A, so I agree to disagree with classic ideal of this poem and choose to instead say "I'll take the road less taken when the other people choosing directions weren't very bright, otherwise, I'll just keep walking." If you know what I mean.

[DevynHinchee]

It's so perfect that this video is about The Road Not Taken because in my Literary Analysis class yesterday we were just talking about this poem and how, despite it being so popular and well-known, few people tend to dig into it. We touched on everything from the traditional reading (take the road less people are taking) to the total opposite and dangerously more pessimistic view (the roads are the same and your choice doesn't matter). We touched on possibility, free will, choice, desperation, biographical context, and then some just to come to the same place those discussions always seem to come to; that everyone's opinion is right in some manner and what you take from it - and the fact that you take something different from your neighbor - is what makes it beautiful.

[margotreynolds]

the beer can sword in the background makes me so happy!!

[Jebbtube]

We all wonder where we'd be had we made different choices.
I know I have. Often.

[MathAndComputers]

There once was a poet named "Frost",
Who, with a friend, had gotten lost.
A rough path to tread,
His friend ended up dead.
Perhaps a coin should have been tossed.

[TheKendra]

a few weeks back I went on a camping trip with a couple friends. We decided to use one of the hiking trails when we came upon a fork in the road. One of my friends goes "what's that quote again?" now be being the dork I am, I knew what she was talking about and went on to recite that quote. We spent the entire hike debating the intention of Robert Frost and whether or not it was a good or bad idea that we took the road less travelled. It turned out, (atleast in our case) that it was not a good idea at all. we came upon a stream that blocked our path where the only way around was to climb a tree and shimmy across a branch to "safely" jump to the ground on the other side. Not that it was horrible but after having walked 4 Km, climbing a tree was not at the top of my list. Thank you John, for the much needed clarity on Robert Frost :)

[MiddleAgedNerd]

I actually don't enjoy poetry much at all (don't you judge me!) but it does seem to have an advantage (is it an advantage?) over standard fiction. It seems to me that since poems are often shorter and use more abstract ideas that strict language, they are more open to multiple interpretations than, say, a good novel. While in a novel you can spark up good debate on character motivations and the meaning of the ending, poetry lends itself to line-by-line and idea-by-idea discussion and/or introspection.

As usual, I don't know if that makes much sense, but that's how I feel.

[filmgirl]

The concept John is talking about is why Poetry Slams can be so moving and fascinating. We should have more of those.