Grass is always green in another’s garden. This general discontent is inherent in man, man is always jealous of others. Are not others leading a better life than me? Man is born with this sense of discontent and dies with it.
And god, keeps this sense of discontentment alive in by putting him always in cross roads. At every turn of life, man has to make a choice and every choice gives his a life a new turn. And every choice is irrevocable just as a path leads to paths so is life’s course. And always we regret that we have not taken the other decision, this grumbling remains unsatiated.
Here the poet narrates a situation when he had to make a choice between two roads. He was passing through a forest. At a point, he found his way bifurcated. Two roads had diverged in two different directions. He was interested in travelling in both the roads. Every man has his limitation. Being one traveler he could not travel both the roads simultaneously. He had to make a choice. He had to choose one, leave the other.
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To take a decision was not an easy affair. The poet stood in the diverging point for a long time. He keenly observed both the roads. He found that one road had bent and vanished in the undergrowth. He observed the second road. It was as just as fair as the other one. But the poet thought it to have better claim as it was grassy and wanted wear. Perhaps very few had used it and therefore the road was not trampled.
It was early in the morning. Dry leaves lay scattered on both the roads. He found no trace of any one walking on either of them that morning. At least the poet decided to take the road less travelled by. He reserved the other for another day and pursued his journey. But he knew that it would not be possible for him to come back to travel on the other road. Roads always lead from roads and man’s life is too short to travel all the roads.
At the completion of his journey, it will be known whether he had taken a right choice or not. But always he remains troubled by a flicker of doubt- perhaps the other road is better than this. So he sings with a sigh-
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
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I took the one less travelled by.
And that has made all the difference.”