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Is this the most misunderstood poem in English literature?
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Is this the most misunderstood poem in English literature?

Listen Now (6 min) | Almost everyone has heard at least part of it.

Robert Frost’s famous poem The Road Not Traveled is one of the most quoted—and most misused—poems in the world. So what does it really mean? Alia Parker offers a translation to help you see it in a different light.

Read the transcript


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Discussion about this episode

Alia's audio here was fun to listen to. She talks about the "The Road Not Traveled" by Robert Frost

I remember one of my English teachers telling my class that, if you read the poem, that the narrator, would have walked down the "More traveled path" seeing as they were equally traveled. So our walker is a liar too!

I loved the Aussie translation of the poem. Thanks for sharing.

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Thanks Mike, much appreciated. Yes, I'm sure Frost thought all the contradictions would have made it obvious that the poem was a joke. But not so, haha. The idea of taking 'a road less traveled' was too romantic and the world latched on :)

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So wonderful to listen to a fellow Aussie...love it!

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Thank you Judy. It took a while for me to track down the Aussies on Substack, but I feel like I've been slowly finding all us needles in a haystack 🙂

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Bloody brilliant!

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Thanks Rena :)

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