Re: The path less trodden

Posted by Smokey Stover on January 02, 2008

In Reply to: The path less trodden posted by Harry Butler on January 02, 2008

: Who first used the phrase "path less trodden" and where and when?

The most famous use of the concept was Robert Frost, in his poem, "The Road Not Taken." THe concluding verse is:

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.

This poem is often recollected as "the road less traveled. The third stanza begins:

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.

Some of the many occurrences of the phrase "the path less trodden" make specific reference to the Frost poem, some do not. But the individuality of the phrase "less trodden" seems to point to the Frost poem whether explicitly or not.
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• Re: The path less trodden ESC 02/January/08