Which is probably why so many people have felt so free to interpret this poem in such grand fashion – it’s so wide-open that it allows the reader to paint their own meaning upon it.

I will admit, however, that until this discussion, I had either not heard or not remembered that Frost’s intent was to be ironic.

I suppose then, by nature of the failure of this Frost poem, he exceeded his intent entirely unintentionally.

Congratulations on your giant leap.

Jeff

As I said before, the greatest works often grow larger than themselves and take on unintended meanings and unforeseen consequences. This criticism of “The Road Not Taken” addresses the issue well, if a touch snobbishly.

I respect plain, honest communication, where the writer doesn’t feed it to you with a spoon, but nor does he bury his true meaning under ironic reversals and twists of language to the point where what he’s saying and what you are hearing bear no resemblance to one another.

Sometimes it matters more to say what’s on your mind than it does to prove to the reader just how smart you are.

Of all people, I can relate to this. I, too, walk a delicate balance between the career I need to pay my bills (technical writing/Web design) and the career that fulfills me (journalism and punditry). You need the one for stability and solvency, and the other for professional and personal satisfaction. And I have no doubt you can do it–your skill at crafting the work you post here is proof that you can make it happen.

Congratulations.

No text is holy writ, no author’s work is above question or examination, and no critic’s judgment is the final word, Harold Bloom be damned. Sure, there’s always the complete asshat, generally working on a thesis, who insists on stretching the bounds of reasonable interpretation to the point of idiocy. But that leaves a wide fair field for intelligent speculation, doesn’t it?

And even if that magic 1-800-ASK-WILL hotline did exist, I have a feeling that the Bard would be too damn busy to answer the phone. Busy writing.

Bravo, Brian.

And I didn’t know you posted a story online. I’ve got it bookmarked for this evening’s bus trip.

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a little easier to get, but there’s nearly as much confusion about it as there is this poem.

I like to think I understand this poem well enough that I’m comfortable with taking my own meaning, independently and in combination with Frost’s intent, from it.

The fact that this poem is read so often opposite of Frost’s intent is part of the reason I enjoy his work as much as I do. Many of Frost’s poems are like this.

*Writing something beside fiction or opinion.

I guess I learned in a context that trusted the writer to know what he or she was doing and it was incumbent on me to begin by trying to understand what that intent was. You then go from there. But it’s just like if we’re talking to each other. I say something to you, and you’re ideally trying to understand what I’m saying. After you satisfy that task, then you consider what else I might be communicating and even ways where I might be unreliable as a communicator.

Congratulations and job well done. You deserve the recognition and I see only good things ahead.

Frost is by far my favorite poet.