The Road less traveled by
The Road less traveled by(少人走的路)是美国著名田园诗人Robert Frost的代表作之一,该诗以路喻人生,以充满哲理的笔调表达了诗人的人生态度。即作者不愿追逐潮流,而愿意走自己的路,尽管比较艰辛,但也无怨无悔。
Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry that 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.
* diverge:“分开”、“分叉”的意思。人生的路有很多条,但我们只能选择其中的一条。 所以我们要用心思考,以作出正确的抉择。所以本段的最后一句“And looked down ……”表达的就是这样的意思。
* undergrowth:“矮树丛”的意思,特别指那些生长在大树下面的矮层丛林。“bush”也是矮树丛的意思,比undergrowth跟通俗更常用。另外Bush还是一个姓,最著名的就是美国前总统George Bush乔治·布什。
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,
* claim:有“主张”的意思,在这里表示“理由”。因为作者选择了第二条路,不仅仅是为了公平,还有更好的理由,那就是第二条路很少人走。
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.
* trodden:是tread的过去分词形式,表示“踩”、“踏”的意思。作者选择了一条难走的路,把好走的留给日后,尽管他也知道也许永远也不会返回来重新再走。
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.
有什么办法呢?人生就是这样,只有一条路可走!作者还是选择了那条没有多少人走的路,从而使的自己的人生与众不同。而与众不同正是他的追求。