The Road Less Traveled?

I just saw a comment comparing a poet's work to Robert Frost's and it reminded me of a story my French teacher in high school told me.

Most people who have taken English Literature classes over the years have frequently heard their teachers making Robert Frost's poem, The Road Less Traveled, out to be some deep psychological poem about life.  Well, I'm here to tell you that Robert Frost never intended for it to be thought of such.

My French teacher lived up in the Connecticut area for years back in the 60's and evidently was invited to a party with Mr. Frost in attendance.  My French teacher, Mr. Avery, had heard all of the psychoanalytical stuff that English teachers read into the poem and was curious to know what Mr. Frost had to say about it.  So, he asked him.

When Mr. Avery told Mr. Frost what people were saying about his poem, he laughed.  He thought it was funny and then he said that wasn't what he wrote about at all.  He said that he was simply taking a walk one afternoon and he came to a fork in the road and one path had been obviously heavy trodden and the other had not.  He chose the one that had not thinking it would possibly be a more interesting walk to see something others hadn't seen.

So, the next time an English Lit teacher or someone else tells you all that bologna about a life journey, you can tell them the truth.  I do.