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,
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.
Ithaca is a poem by Greek poet C. Kavafis about the voyage of Odysseus after the Trojan War to his home island of Ithaca, a journey that was depicted in Homer's Odyssey. Its main theme is that as you travel to enjoy the journey and not just the destination and that maturity of the soul is all one can ask for. Recited here by Sir Sean Connery and with music by Vangelis.
As you set out for Ithaca hope that your journey is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops, angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of them; you'll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare sensasion touches your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope that your journey is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you come into harbors you're seeing for the first time.
May you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind - as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and learn again from those who know.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. But don't hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you're old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you've gained on the way, not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you would have not set out. She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you'll have understood by then what these Ithacas mean.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
