The Road Not Taken
未選擇的路
——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;
黃色的樹林里分出兩條路，
可惜我不能同時去涉足，
我在那路口久久佇立，
我向著一條路極目望去，
直到它消失在叢林深處。
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.
但我卻選了另外一條路，
它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂，
顯得更誘人、更美麗，
雖然在這條小路上，
很少留下旅人的足跡。
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.
那天清晨落葉滿地，
兩條路都未經腳印污染。
啊，留下一條路等改日再見！
但我知道路徑延綿無盡頭，
恐怕我難以再回返。
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.
也許多少年后在某個地方，
我將輕聲嘆息將往事回顧，
一片樹林里分出兩條路，
而我選擇了人跡更少的一條，
從此決定了我一生的道路。
羅伯特·弗羅斯特（1874-1963），20世紀最受歡迎的美國詩人之一，留下了《林間空地》、《未選擇的路》、《雪夜林邊小駐》等許多膾炙人口的作品。他曾4次獲得普利策獎，被稱為“美國文學中的桂冠詩人”。
在《未選擇的路》這首詩里，詩人以含蓄清新、別具匠心的藝術風格再現出優美的自然風光，并且通過對自然景物的描寫，反映人們內心深處的情感波瀾。在詩中，詩人選擇了一條人跡稀少、布滿荊棘的道路，正如詩人在現實生話中選擇了不會帶來豐富物質的寫詩生活。詩人在作出抉擇后，同時又遺憾“魚和熊掌不可兼得”，只能選擇一條路，并堅定地走下去，只有在多年以后的回憶中輕嘆遺憾。這首詩看似傾訴個人經歷，實則表達現實生話中人們處在十字路口時難以抉擇的共同感受。
