RobertFrostI.BiographicalIntroductionborninSanFranciscoin1874.hismotherbroughthimtoNewEnglandathiseleven,withwhichhispoetryhasalwaysbeenassociated.Aftergraduatingfromhighschoolin1892,FrostenteredDartmouthCollegebutsoonlefttoworkatoldjobsandtowritepoetry.In1897,hewasacceptedasaspecialstudentbyHarvardbutwithdrewaftertwoyearsbecauseofhisincreasingdislikeforacademicconvention.Forthenexttwelveyears,Frostmadeaminimallivingbyteachingandfarmingwhilecontinuingtowritehispoems.In1912,heandhisfamilymovedtoEngland,wherehefoundapublisherforhisfirstbookofverse,Aboy’swill(1913).Determinedtowinrecognitioninhisnativeland,FrostreturnedtotheUSandsettledonafarminhisnativeland.

Bytheendofhislifehehadbecomeanationalpoet;hereceivedhonorarydegreesfromforty-fourcollegesanduniversitiesandwonfourPulitzerPrizes;theUnitedStatessenatepassedresolutionshonoringhisbirthdaysandwhenhewaseighty-sevenhereadhispoetryattheinaugurationofPresidentJohnF.Kennedy.II.MainWorksABoy’sWill1913<<一個(gè)男孩的意愿>>

NorthofBoston,1914<<波士頓的北部>>MountainInterval,1916<<山間>>NewHampshire1923<<新罕布什爾>>CollectedPoems1930<<詩(shī)集>>AFurtherRange1936<<又一片牧場(chǎng)>>AWitnessTree1942<<見(jiàn)證樹(shù)>>III.Frost’sViewandThemeHispoetryconcernsNewEngland’snature.Hesawnatureasastorehouseofanalogyandsymbol,sohisconcernwithnaturereflecteddeepmoraluncertainties.Hispoetryoftenprobesmysteriousofdarknessandirrationalityinthebleakandchaoticlandscapesofanindifferentuniverse.ThequestofthesolitarypersontomakesenseoftheworldhasbecomethecentralthemeofallFrost’scollectionsandmadehispoetryamongthemostaccessibleofmodernwriters.ThepoetryofRobertFrostcombinedpastoralimagerywithsolitaryphilosophicalthemes.IV.Frost’sStylerejectedtherevolutionarypoeticprinciplesofhiscontemporaries,usedtraditionalformssuchastheblankverse,plainlanguageofruralNewEnglanders,andagracefulstyle.thereisasteadytoneofwryhumor,andavirtuallyinexhaustibleverbalgrace.Heusedsymbolsfromeverydaycountrylifetoexpresshisdeepideas.Asawhole,Frost’sartisanactofclarification,which,withoutsimplifyingthetruth,rendersitinsomedegreeaccessibletoeveryone.FireandIce(火與冰)Somesaytheworldwillendinfire,Somesayinice.FromwhatI'vetastedofdesireIholdwiththosewhofavorfire.Butifithadtoperishtwice,IthinkIknowenoughofhateToknowthatfordestructioniceIsalsogreatAndwouldsuffice.有人說(shuō)世界將結(jié)束于熊熊烈焰，有人則說(shuō)結(jié)束于凜凜寒冰。欲望如火，體會(huì)其烈，則知世之歸于火為我所愿。但若其必兩度遭逢毀滅，我知恨之極至，必然明了，毀滅之冰，同樣魁偉，同樣順人心意。Publication"FireandIce"firstappearedintheDecember1920issueofHarper's.In1923,itappearedinNewHampshire,acollectionofFrost'spoemspublishedinNewYork.FiguresofSpeechAlliteration

Somesaytheworldwillendinfire,Somesayinice.Iholdwiththosewhofavorfire.Anaphora(首語(yǔ)重復(fù))Somesaytheworldwillendinfire,Somesayinice.Paradox

ButifithadtoperishtwiceThemeThecentralthemeof"FireandIce"isthathumanemotionsaredestructivewhenallowedtorunamok.Theycandestroyapersonmorally,mentallyandphysically.Notfrequently,unbridledemotions—suchasthoseofAdolfHitler—candestroyentirecountriesandeventhreatentodestroycivilizationitself.

StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEveningWhosewoodstheseareIthinkIknow.Hishouseisinthevillagethough;HewillnotseemestoppinghereTowatchhiswoodsfillupwithsnow.

這是誰(shuí)家的林子，我想我知道，

雖說(shuō)他的農(nóng)舍在村子那一頭，

他不會(huì)卻看到我停留在這兒，

望著他的林子積雪有多厚。StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEvening

雪夜林邊小駐MylittlehorsemustthinkitqueerTostopwithoutafarmhousenearBetweenthewoodsandfrozenlakeThedarkesteveningoftheyear.

我那小馬一定會(huì)感到奇怪：

停留在這兒？又沒(méi)村舍在鄰近

夾在一座森林和一片冰湖之間，

在這一年中最昏暗的黃昏。

HegiveshisharnessbellsashakeToaskifthereissomemistake.Theonlyothersound’sthesweepOfeasywindanddownyflake.

他把他胸前的掛鈴一搖，

想問(wèn)問(wèn)到底有沒(méi)有弄錯(cuò)路線。

此外只聽(tīng)得一陣微風(fēng)吹過(guò)，

和一陣鵝毛似的雪片卷過(guò)。Thewoodsarelovely,darkanddeep,ButIhavepromisestokeep,AndmilestogobeforeIsleep.AndmilestogobeforeIsleep.

樹(shù)林真可愛(ài)，幽暗而深遠(yuǎn)。

可是我還得趕赴約會(huì)，

還得趕好幾里路才能安睡，

還得趕好幾里路才能安睡。BackgroundThispoemwaswrittenin1922byRobertFrost,andpublishedin1923inhisNewHampshirevolume.FrostwrotethispoemaboutwinterinJune,1922.Hehadbeenuptheentirenightwritingthelongpoem"NewHampshire"andhadfinallyfinishedwhenherealizedmorninghadcome.Hewentouttoviewthesunriseandsuddenlygottheideafor"StoppingbyWoodsonaSnowyEvening."Hewrotethenewpoeminjustafewminutesandlaterstatedthat"ItwasasifI'dhadahallucination."ThiswasFrost'sfavoriteofhisownpoemsandinalettertoLouisUntermeyerhecalledit"mybestbidforremembrance".Symbols

Promises

–ourresponsibilitiesthatwemustfulfill.Miles-experiencewemusttravelthroughbeforedeathSleep-deathVillage-humanworldTheowner-humanorderfromwhichthespeakerisshortlyseparatedThemeThepoemisprimarilyorientedtowardsthepleasureofthesceneandtheresponsibilitiesoflife.

Thestrangeattractionofdeathtomanissymbolizedbythedarkwoodssilentlyfilledupwiththecoldnessofsnow.Thepoemrepresentsamomentofrelaxationfromtheburdensomejourneyoflife,analmostaestheticenjoymentandappreciationofnaturalbeautywhichiswholesomeandrestorativeagainstthechaoticexistenceofmodernpeople.TheRoadNotTaken

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

黃色的樹(shù)林里分出兩條路

可惜我不能同時(shí)去涉足

我在那路口久久佇立

我向著一條路極目望去

但我卻選擇了另外一條路

它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂

顯得更誘人，更美麗

雖然在這兩條小路上

都很少留下旅人的足跡

雖然那天清晨落葉滿地

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

兩條路都未經(jīng)腳印污染

呵，留下一條路等改日再見(jiàn)

但我知道路徑延綿無(wú)盡頭

恐怕我難以再回返

也許多少年后在某一個(gè)地方

我將輕聲嘆息把往事回顧

一片森林里分出兩條路

而我卻選擇了人跡更少的一條

從此決定了我一生的道路.

Background"TheRoadNotTaken"isapoembyRobertFrost,publishedin1916inthecollectionMountainInterval;itisthefirstpoeminthevolumeandisprintedinitalics.Thetitleisoftenmistakenlygivenas"TheRoadLessTraveled",fromthepenultimateline:"Itooktheonelesstraveledby".RhymeThispoemconsistsoffourstanzasoffivelines.TherhymeschemeisABAAB.therhymesarestrictandmasculine,withnotableexceptionofthelastline.Therearefourstressedsyllableseachline,varyingoniambic(抑揚(yáng)格，指由一短一長(zhǎng)或一輕一重的兩音節(jié)組成的音步）tetrameter(四步抑揚(yáng)格)base.TwoDifferentInterpretationsThepoemhastworecognizedinterpretations;oneisamoreliteralinterpretation,whiletheotherismoreironic.LiteralinterpretationAccordingtotheliteral(andmorecommon)interpretation,thepoemisinspirational,apaean（贊美歌）toindividualismandnon-conformism（不墨守成規(guī)）.IronicinterpretationTheironicinterpretation,widelyheldbycritics,isthatthepoemisinsteadaboutregretandpersonalmyth-making,rationalizingourdecisions.LiteraryDevicesMetaphor

Thepoemrevolvesaroundthemetaphorcomparingthedecisionswemakeonthejourneyoflifetoaforkintheroad.Justaswemustdecidewhichroadtotakewhentravelinginordertoarriveatalocation,wemustmakedecisionsinlifethatwillgreatlyimpactourdestination.

LiteraryDevicesSymbolism

“Yellow”-Theyellowcoloringofthewoodsisrepresentativeofthelight,hope,andpromisethatthespeakerisstandingbefore.Hisfutureisbrightandstretchesbeforehim.Thoughbothpathsareequallylit,hemustchooseonlyone.“Woods”-Thepoemissetinthewoodsbecausewegetanimageofaquiet,desertedplacewherethespeakerisleftalonetodecide.Therearenoroadsignsorpeopletostopandaskfordirections.Similarly,therearenosignsinlifedesignedtohelppeoplechoosetheirpath.“Roads”-Theroadsaresymbolicofthepathswetakeinlife.Everyroadleadstoaspecificplaceandthenatureofone’sdestinationdependsentirelyonthedecisionsthataremade.Wedon’tjustarriveatalocation;wemakeaseriesofchoicesthatleadusthere.ThemeThepoemhasbeenandcontinuestobeusedasaninspirationalpoem,onethattotheundiscerningeyeseemstobeencouragingself-reliance,notfollowingwhereothershaveled.Butaclosereadingofthepoemprovesotherwise.Itdoesnotmoralizeaboutchoice;itsimplysaysthatchoiceisinevitable,butyouneverknowwhatyourchoicewillmeanuntilyouhavelivedit.ATrickyPoemFrostclaimsthathewrotethispoemabouthisfriendEdwardThomas,withwhomhehadwalkedmanytimesinthewoodsnearLondon.Frosthassaidthatwhilewalkingtheywouldcometodifferentpathsandafterchoosingone,Thomaswouldalwaysfretwonderingwhattheymighthavemissedbynottakingtheotherpath.Aboutthepoem,Frostasserted,"Youhavetobecarefulofthatone;it'satrickypoem-verytricky."FirstStanza–DescribesSituationThepoemconsistsoffourstanzas.Inthefirststanza,thespeakerdescribeshisposition.Hehasbeenoutwalkingthewoodsandcomestotworoads,andhestandslookingasfardowneachoneashecansee.Hewouldliketotryoutboth,butdoubtshecouldtothat,sothereforehecontinuestolookdowntheroadsforalongtimetryingtomakehisdecisionaboutwhichroadtotake.SecondStanza–DecidestoTakeLess-TraveledRoadThespeakerhadlookeddownthefirstone“towhereitbentintheundergrowth,”andinthesecondstanza,hereportsthathedecidedtotaketheotherpath,becauseitseemedtohavelesstrafficthanthefirst.Butthenhegoesontosaythattheyactuallywereverysimilarlyworn.Thesecondonethathetookseemslesstraveled,butashethinksaboutit,herealizesthattheywere“reallyaboutthesame.”ThirdStanza–ContinuesDescriptionofRoadsThethirdstanzacontinueswiththecogitation(深思)aboutthepossiblediffer