The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken
未选择的路

——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;
黄色的树林里分出两条路，
可惜我不能同时去涉足，
我在那路口久久伫立，
我向着一条路极目望去，
直到它消失在丛林深处。

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.
但我却选了另外一条路，
它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂，
显得更诱人、更美丽，
虽然在这条小路上，
很少留下旅人的足迹。

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.
那天清晨落叶满地，
两条路都未经脚印污染。
啊，留下一条路等改日再见！
但我知道路径延绵无尽头，
恐怕我难以再回返。

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.
也许多少年后在某个地方，
我将轻声叹息将往事回顾，
一片树林里分出两条路，
而我选择了人迹更少的一条，
从此决定了我一生的道路。

罗伯特·弗罗斯特（1874-1963），20世纪最受欢迎的美国诗人之一，留下了《林间空地》、《未选择的路》、《雪夜林边小驻》等许多脍炙人口的作品。他曾4次获得普利策奖，被称为“美国文学中的桂冠诗人”。
在《未选择的路》这首诗里，诗人以含蓄清新、别具匠心的艺术风格再现出优美的自然风光，并且通过对自然景物的描写，反映人们内心深处的情感波澜。在诗中，诗人选择了一条人迹稀少、布满荆棘的道路，正如诗人在现实生话中选择了不会带来丰富物质的写诗生活。诗人在作出抉择后，同时又遗憾“鱼和熊掌不可兼得”，只能选择一条路，并坚定地走下去，只有在多年以后的回忆中轻叹遗憾。这首诗看似倾诉个人经历，实则表达现实生话中人们处在十字路口时难以抉择的共同感受。