Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" 

As I grow older,I am 71,I find myself looking back at my life with more than a few regrets.Missed chances,lost love and sadness that I didn`t tell more people that I loved them.The correct interpretation has made me realise that had I taken the other path things might have turned out very badly and I should be grateful and more aware of how lucky I have been.

This is perhaps the best lecture on a poem I have come across on RU-vid. I regularly come back to it. The lecturer is a true master of his art.

I've watched several lectures on American poetry from esteemed universities such as Harvard and Yale, and this lecture is, in my opinion, the best one of any kind on poetry anywhere on the internet. Professor Murphy is discussing the virtues of Frost with no pretense, no technological interruptions or interfaces such as--ugh!--PowerPoint, and with total organization and clarity of purpose. he conveys more about poetry in 22 minutes than many professors do in an entire semester. (He actually reads the poem being discussed, which by the way, almost no other online lecturers bother to do before discussing it, which is so very odd to me.) This is how a lecture should be. Would that it were required viewing for all poetry professors before they ever teach their first class. Well done!

I have taken several classes with Professor Murphy. I think he is honestly one of the best Professors I have had the privledge of working with, and I have worked with many very good ones. He has complete command of his fields of specialty, and is an excellent teacher. He brings a lot to his classes, and I took a lot away from them.

I think this poem was written in this way to make the one reading it analyze their own choices. We all have choices to make and live with. For me, he sounds as if he is deciding if he made the right choice and at the end when he says, "and that has made all the difference", he becomes certain that it was his best choice.

Great poem… great lecture! Over the years, I have watched this many-many times and always loved it. Even if Robert Frost did not intend the darker interpretation, the fact is that it truly captures the reality of life. Thank you Professor Murphy and thank you to whoever posted it online for all of us.

I think this poem is a perfect illustration of the paradox of choice

Besides the amazing Robert Frost's poetry. The professor did a amazing explanation.

I watch this video every year and it reveals to me new insights every-time. Thank you for putting this online because to have the privilege to hear this professor is an extraordinary honour in itself. Love the video. Wish I was his student and could hear him live.

This is amazing. Prof. Murphy has absolutely change the whole course of the poem that i was having about the poem for like last five years. BRILLIANT!

And then he ends with "And that has made all the difference." Note, he says that this is the story he will tell someday. He isn't telling us that story now. He told it honestly. He started to say that one was grassier, but then said, no, not really, they were about the same. He looked down the other a long time before he turned away. But it was a toss up. It didn't matter what road, but later he says, he'll claim it did. The truth is the difference was in him all the time, not in which road.

One of the greatest lectures I have ever heard!

This is what makes this poem so amazing, a close reading of it shows that it does not say what we want it to say. We want it to say, like Frank Sinatra, "I did it my way." A close reading shows that he regrets the road "not taken," because he looked down it a long time, and names the poem after the one he did not take. And the poem says that both roads were worn "about the same," and that the other appeared "just as fair." So those last lines are a tall tale told by an old man, long after.

This is fabulous! I have finally found someone who agrees with me on the poem. I will be showing this to my high school English class. Thank you.

Thank you Mr.Kevin Murphy for such amazing and thoughtful lecture..Hard and artistic presentation

About critics: Robert Frost surely knew, "never argue with critics, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

It’s about his best friend Edward Thomas who would always question the path they took along their walks in England. So, to some extent this poem is about Frost making fun of his BFF is jest. The sad part is that this is what would provoke Thomas to join the war. And that it would ultimately cause him to leave his wife and three children because he was killed in the war.

most convincing explanation. fits well with the experiences in the walk of life ..

Amazing lecture. Very strong, very interesting dissection of the poem, lots of reading in between the lines, lots of good points, and one that definitely makes you think. Bravo!

he delivered without any stuck in between... a moment of silence for these of teachers in the world

When you get older you will interpret it differently. Every single thing you do in life is a choice like that and frankly no one knows if you made different choices what your life would have been like. I head Frost say you need to live boldly. In other words don't second guess every move. Just give each choice a little thought and accept and deal with the outcome as best you can. Often times you don't get a redo on your move. This is what real life is like even if you carefully plan.

A very thought provoking video. Thank you.

this professor has great oral skills, i had to say that...and I think his interpretation makes the poem better..show us the human side of a poet, not a fake side trying to say which everybody wants to hear..it's all about decisions in life..and you certainly regret some decisions you made because you are a human being...I don't care about regrets, I care about living every single day...that's it

excellent lecture!

excellent lecture, thanks for posting this

this guy is great

it has given me major insight for greater understanding

absolutely brilliant!

Useful, most useful, to the point analysis. Mr Murphy, your lecture has the stuff to become a classic. What I'm missing though are some left out "not-so-fun-facts", eg Frost's intention to mock his buddy, Englisch writer Edward Thomas, who, based on his misreading the poem, volunteered as canon fodder in WW 1 and subsequently perished in action.

Thanks for these great insights!

Wow! What a teacher. Wonderful insights--decision making, how difficult it is. How often we do rationalize and think we've done it right in life.

Interesting analysis! Thanks so much for explanation.

thanks you sir nicely explained.

a very good explanation, professor..!

This man is the Walter White of literature. Are we lucky for having this great gift that, or is it just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

When you grow older you will appreciate watching a lecture like this and knowing that you won't be tested or have to write a paper about it... now I must start my paper on Robert Frost... damn lol

well detailed, thank you

You have it right. When I read “ and I have promises to keep”. It always gives me the creeps.

Yes, he certainly was. His readings are very interesting as I recall. I've wondered if Robert Creely was thinking of Henry and Mr. Bones when he wrote "I Know a Man," and if his friend he calls "John" was actually a reference to Berryman. Again, these are things I haven't looked into, just passing thoughts. Thanks for the great discussion. Hey, I've been looking at your videos tonight, and I am impressed. There is a whole lot you and I actually do agree on. :) Rest well, and have a great Monday.

I take the darkness farther: The poem is about the fact that there is no such thing as "choice", "choice" is only an imaginary idea because whatever we choose, only one thing happens...no different than if we dont take the time to imagine the scenario that we call "a choice"... He may be referring indirectly to "determinism", the idea that because everything follows cause and effect, logically everything that happens, on all levels, has been predetermined by all previous events, sort of like the domino effect...which would mean choice is an illusion. All his poems are heavy, he was talking about the idea of breaking on through to the other side.

i think this will help me so much! thanks

My interpretation is that given that both road are equally taken and thus, what Frost means to say that is that the different comes from taking the road less traveled by - the path that he hasn't taken the last time. Consider that he mentioned he would keep the other road for another day. And that other day is now, when he is taking the road not traveled

Outrageous!

Brilliant!!!!

Very interesting!! Well said!!

Such nice and deep explanation. Thank you for this 🙏

Thank you very much! :D

You must have. This is a first rate lecture. Brilliant.

It relates how we negotiate with our own ego. We wish to think that we did better, or the best in life. In actuality neither path would made a big difference in the pleasures and sorrows of life, except for minor details...

So good.

My kid loves it 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Brilliant analysis. I've been reading this poem in the last 20 years. Now I'm really LOST ! =)

helped me on my project... thanks

Wow, it makes Frost's poetry have deep resonance...which it should...the popular first understanding and then the deeper synecdoche...of a deep thinker.

As a writer, the lecture is very interesting (good cover ... right). However, having resided much further north in New England, you find a different culture than the lower states. New England culture, of wide open rural spaces - huge snowfalls - isolation and when fortunate, the kindness and generosity of your neighbors, is a melting pot of 'clam chowder'. Like one of my past neighbors Stephen King; writing is more of the imagination and self observation, Frost having come to NE from the west; he will always be "from away" (as some New Englanders expresses to those not born in parts of NE). I studied literature, and find it amusing to hear the opinion of a professor on an artist; is it their own thoughts and opinions, or that of the institution, media, surveys, or public opinions? We are humans with lives beyond our art. We create, others analyze, our work or our personal lives? Does the personal life of a writer matter, if fiction? If I say 'this in my art', years later will I be accused of saying 'that'? However, I too enjoy the compiling investigative research of analysis.

The Road Not Taken resonates with me. No matter the intended meaning, it will mean different things for different people - and I think that is perfectly ok. We are meaning-making-machines, I once read. We can make meaning out of almost anything. I choose for this poem to mean something poignant and sad and great, about my life. Love it.

Потрясающее видео. Очень интересно и познавательно. Люблю этого автора. Его стихи восхитительны.

I believe his values are universal to the human soul where ever on Earth. He himself commented on this and against the confine of these principals to nation borders. These are values in which the USA is seen to protect, but the desire and nature of these principles are in all people.

"concomitant" : "naturally accompanying or associated." Learned a new word today...

If you ask someone when speaking about a questionable decision they've made in the past, "do you have any regrets?", very rarely will they answer in the affirmative. It's something ingrained in our nature. The Monty Hall paradox, whereby people almost always stand by their initial decision seems to illustrates this. The one thought that contradicts the ideas Murphy presents, is that at some point, Frost must have taken a different path because not everyone can write poems like he did.

Well done.

Good lesson

I feel as though I am the road on the right, and sad that lost love will never come back my way, even though he said he intended to -(“I doubt it if I should ever come back “)😢

Thank you! I got an A on my analysis report!

This helped me understand this poem so much better! Horeay for technology!

Interesting points you have there

One of the vivid poems I ever read...

Well said.

Poetry is not for logic and debate. It's for enjoying the use of words and conveyance of a message. As someone has stated, poetry is about "felt thought".

The poem is meant to resonate with people for generations to come. It’s not to go the way less people are going.

@MrGabPiano seems you are referring to quantum physics?

It's astonishing how many people could overlook so many straightforwardly equivocal lines of the poem and only selectively hone in on certain phrases (e.g. FLW) and press them into their celebratory individualistic expectation. This shows the importance of teaching reading skills and openness to the unexpected in a text...

i too remembered the title as the road less traveled. when i talk to people about America's invasion of countries and genocides that are currently being committed, most of them will say that they dont want to know anything about it, they dont care, and as far as they heard on the news, america is bringing peace. i talk about the US genocide on Vietnam, or Cambodia and they remember it as a peace mission. what im saying is this interpretation of the poem is brilliant. People rationalize.

This teacher is very engaging.

poets are so rare.

Make it count, Do It Now, Don't Wait, (Don't hesitate)! If there is some good that I can do!....Let me do something good,..... NOW!

(Part Two) He continues explaining how there was really no difference in the roads. "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./" (honesty again) "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,/" Here's the lie. He already confided in us that they were the same

David, what do you think of John Berryman's poetry?

excellent lecture it provide deepness into the socio demographical nature of the times

Yea! This was my interpretation as well! It’s about telling yourself a story. It’s a comment on post hoc fallacy and confirmation bias.

The poem is 100 years old this year (2016). And here's a Zen thought to dwell on: since all roads lead to Rome, would it matter anyway that the road not taken wasn't taken?

This is an excellent lecture and I believe he is correct about Robert Frost's 'dark side,' as all great poets and thinkers must, of necessity, visit the dark side of themselves and of the collective consciousness of mankind in order to bring deep empathy and understanding to their work. This is why so many relate to his work. We all have a dark side. However, I do believe that Mr Frost (as well as Emily Dickinson, who is also misunderstood) is describing meditation and spiritual enlightenment.

Yes, though I have not been able to find much time to read or listen to his large body of work. A movie is in-the-works about him. (Facebook has a link) Phillip Levine remembers Berryman fondly, which makes him worth examining further. Yes his end was tragic, but he was more than his worst day would imply, as we all are. Have a good week! :)

Wonderful explanation! As a student, this lecture helped me a lot to understand decision making. Thanks for your great explanation!

Nice one

The lecturer has probably read Scott Peck!Typical 1968 student psychology. 13:45 "How do we know that the speaker in the poem took the road less travelled by?" I'm not sure that Mr Murphy answers the question ! Some very revealing points and cross-cultural references, though.

The dash at the end of the the third line of the last stanza coupled with the repetition of the pronoun "I" at the end of that same line and the beginning of the next line seems to indicate that the speaker regrets his original choice. Of course, the real ambiguity lies within how one interprets the word "difference," the last word of the last stanza of this great masterpiece. Interpretation lies within the psychological framework of the reader. This "open interpretation" is why "The Road Not Taken" is timeless and eternal. Life is filled with choices--any one of which can result in success or failure in Man's synthetic world.

I try to, but youtube is like having a delayed satellite transmission, and an intermittent mic at the same time. LOL! Be well David, and I hope you continue to enjoy the fine art of poetry. :)

He just BLEW my mind. and boom goes the dynamite

Whose woods are these, I think I know....And miles to go before I sleep.......And miles to go before I sleep.....Robert Frost, our beloved mentor--1962

Who is the lecturer? An outstanding insight in Robert Frost's life and work

The lecture is from 1992 (1916+76). (13:27)

I also think that when he explains that the both roads look the same, then that means that choice is an illusion and you can only ever walk on one path and any speculation of an alternative path is imaginary. Look back over your shoulder and all you see is only one line of connected moments. You can rant, speculate, theorise, as much as you like with, "I coulda", "I woulda", "I was gunna".....but you didn't, so it has never existed.....

I was just looking at the order RU-vid put some of our comments in, and I think it's difficult to follow this thread, and sort of funny. They used to be better at this. Anyway, Berryman? I am intrigued by the "Dream Songs," and "Farewell" always gets to me. His father's suicide. . . and I wonder if he was thinking of that poem years later when he jumped from the bridge. I really should study his work more. So many tragic endings of those confessional poets. Hey, thanks for asking! You like him?

Interesting explanation of the poem. Still, however you interprete it, I think it is one of the best poems around.

i never understood the poem as showing support for non-conformity. i understood it as a guy made a choice life thinking he would take the other later but knowing how one path leads to another knew he would never be able to go back. it's NOT about the path he did take. it is about the one he didn't. the title really says it all.

@ShiftyJackal I don't see how "deceiving" and "rationalizing" are a part of the poem. but I like your last sentence which explains the poem in a neutral way. Yes, it's about how a person views their decision after they've made it. the guy in the lecture says that the "all the difference" line could be positive or negative.

I posed 30 years ago that he did not take the road less traveled by but one day would be able to say that he did. My professor at the time did not like my take at all.

wow this was awesome....he is a great lecturer..i never thought about the poem in the way that he presented it

There is no road in the world，but so many people travel, and that made the roads