The Road Not Taken
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;
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,
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.
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.
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;
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,
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.
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.
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POETRobert Frost 1874–1963
POET’S REGIONU.S., New England
A Partial History of My Stupidity
Traffic was heavy coming off the bridge
and I took the road to the right, the wrong one,
and got stuck in the car for hours.
Most nights I rushed out into the evening
without paying attention to the trees,
whose names I didn't know,
or the birds, which flew heedlessly on.
I couldn't relinquish my desires
or accept them, and so I strolled along
like a tiger that wanted to spring,
but was still afraid of the wildness within.
The iron bars seemed invisible to others,
but I carried a cage around inside me.
I cared too much what other people thought
and made remarks I shouldn't have made.
I was silent when I should have spoken.
Forgive me, philosophers,
I read the Stoics but never understood them.
I felt that I was living the wrong life,
spiritually speaking,
while halfway around the world
thousands of people were being slaughtered,
some of them by my countrymen.
So I walked on - distracted, lost in thought -
and forgot to attend to those who suffered
far away, nearby.
Forgive me, faith, for never having any.
I did not believe in God,
who eluded me.
- Edward Hirsch, from <Special Orders>
and I took the road to the right, the wrong one,
and got stuck in the car for hours.
Most nights I rushed out into the evening
without paying attention to the trees,
whose names I didn't know,
or the birds, which flew heedlessly on.
I couldn't relinquish my desires
or accept them, and so I strolled along
like a tiger that wanted to spring,
but was still afraid of the wildness within.
The iron bars seemed invisible to others,
but I carried a cage around inside me.
I cared too much what other people thought
and made remarks I shouldn't have made.
I was silent when I should have spoken.
Forgive me, philosophers,
I read the Stoics but never understood them.
I felt that I was living the wrong life,
spiritually speaking,
while halfway around the world
thousands of people were being slaughtered,
some of them by my countrymen.
So I walked on - distracted, lost in thought -
and forgot to attend to those who suffered
far away, nearby.
Forgive me, faith, for never having any.
I did not believe in God,
who eluded me.
- Edward Hirsch, from <Special Orders>
다리를 벗어나는데 차들이 많이 막혔고
우회전을 했지만 길을 잘못 선택해
몇 시간 동안 차 안에 갇혀 있었다
거의 모든 저녁마다
나무들에게 아무 관심도 갖지 않고
급히 어둠 속으로 들어갔다
나무들의 이름조차 몰랐고
그 위에 날아와 앉는 새들도 마찬가지였다
욕망을 포기하지도 받아들이지도 못했으며
그래서 뛰어오르고 싶지만
자기 안의 야성을 여전히 두려워하는
호랑이처럼 어슬렁거렸다
다른 사람들에게는 쇠창살이 보이지 않는 것 같지만
자신 안에 커다란 새장을 갖고 다녔다
남들이 어떻게 생각하는지 너무 신경 썼고
하지 말았어야 할 말들을 했다
말해야만 할 때는 침묵했다
철학자들이여, 용서하라
금욕주의 학파에 대해 읽었지만 결코 이해하지 못했다
영적으로 말해
잘못된 삶을 살고 있다고 느꼈다
지구 반대편에서
수천 명이 학살당하고 있는데도
그들 중 어떤 이들은 우리나라 사람들에게 죽임을 당하는데도
그래서 생각 속에 길을 잃고 걸어다녔고
멀리서 가까이에서 고통받는 사람들에게
관심 갖는 법을 잊었다
믿음이여, 용서하라
한 번도 믿지 않은 것에 대해
나는 신을 믿지 않았다
나를 피해 다니는 신을
- 에드워드 허쉬 <내 어리석음의 부분적인 역사> (류시화 옮김)
