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Meaning the words in the road not taken by robert frost
Analysis of the poem the road not taken
Symbolic meaning of the poem the road not taken by robert frost
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On "The Road Not Taken"
Most people believe that "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost was written to inspire people to be different, and to not follow the majority. However, the poem was actually written to gently tease one of Frost's good friends, and fellow poet, Edward Thomas. Frost and Thomas would take walks in the woods together, and Thomas would take Frost down one path and later regret not choosing a different path. This would lead one to believe that Frost is actually ridiculing the action of regretting decisions. Considering this pert nit background information, the poem's meaning can be quite contrary to popular belief. It guides the reader from the idea that Frost wants you to differentiate yourself, to a concept of perseverance and self confidence. Upon further analysis of the poem, more irony is unveiled in both the title and the poem itself
Initially "The Road Not Taken" is quite stereotypical and inspirational in manner. At first glance the poem radiates a feeling that it's alright to take the road less traveled, and that good fortune may follow from making seemingly unorthodox decisions. Frost illustrates an idea of individualism in the last two lines, "I took the one less traveled by/ and that has made all the difference" (19-20). In the last stanza of the poem, the speaker explains that many years later he will tell the story of how taking the road less traveled has changed his life. Viewed from an analytical standpoint many examples of subtle irony can be found.
Frost's choice of words in the title is very peculiar. It seems as though Frost purposely chose the word "taken". If the poem was meant to be inspirational, "chosen" would be a better fit for the title. The word "chosen" would clar...
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...the poem "The Road Not Taken", one would come across an idea that is quite different, but still in good faith. The poem has two sides; a noble side and a mischievous side. The noble side focuses on making decisions and following through with them, showing perseverance, and self confidence. On the other hand, the mischievous side is focused more on being different and creating a path through life in which one forges with self-righteous decisions. In teasing a good friend, Frost shows the importance of having faith in the decisions one makes, and realizing that it doesn't matter what path someone "takes" or "chooses", if they have a strong will and good faith anything can happen.
Works Cited
Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature: Concise Edition. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004.
Wikipedia. 2004. Wikipedia online. 24 Mar. 2007
Everyone is a traveler, carefully choosing which roads to follow on the map of life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a single direction in which to head. Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken'; can be interpreted in many different ways. The shade of light in which the reader sees the poem depends upon her past, present, and the attitude with which she looks toward her future. In any case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man he is.
Have you ever been faced with two important decisions? Life is full of options and when when you encounter two decisions you have to choose what path you are going to take. Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken,” represents two tough decisions and having to choose one and not the other. Robert Frost uses a few poetic devices, such as, metaphor, symbolism and vivid imagery to express and show the decisions we make in life. These poetic devices also help Robert Frost get his point across about the roads.
"The Road Not Taken," perhaps the most famous example of Frost’s own claims to conscious irony and "the best example in all of American poetry of a wolf in sheep's clothing." Thompson documents the ironic impulse that produced the poem as Frost's "gently teasing" response to his good friend, Edward Thomas, who would in their walks together take Frost down one path and then regret not having taken a better direction. According to Thompson, Frost assumes the mask of his friend, taking his voice and his posture, including the un-Frostian sounding line, "I shall be telling this with a sigh," to poke fun at Thomas's vacillations; Frost ever after, according to Thompson, tried to bring audiences to the ironic point, warning one group, "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem - very tricky" (Letters xiv-xv). Thompson's critical evaluation is simply that Frost had, in that particular poem, "carried himself and his ironies too subtly," so that the poem is, in effect, a failure (Letters xv). Yet is it simply that - a too exact parody of a mediocre poetic voice, which becomes among the sentimental masses, ironically, one of the most popularly beloved of Frost's "wise" poems? This is the easiest way to come to terms critically with the popularity of "The Road Not Taken" but it is not, perhaps, the only or best way: in this critical case, the road less traveled may indeed be more productive.
In this poem, Frost illustrates that every person has his own opinion. He states “Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim” (line 6-7). What make it better was “it was grassy and wanted wear” (line 8). It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seems that the other people take the more popular one. “And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black” (line 11). No one had yet to pass by on this road since the leaves have fallen. “I kept the first for another day” (line 13). The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but “knowing how way leads onto way” (line 14). The speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one, and he “doubted if I should ever come back”
The Road Not Taken can be interpreted many different ways. Depending on the past, present and future attitude one has at the time he read it determines the way the poem may be interpreted. As the title indicates the central theme of this poem is choices. Most people agree that in the poem that Frost was expressing the belief that it is the road or path that one takes or chooses that makes him the man who he is today and will be tomorrow. Everyone is a traveler on lives roads. In the poem there is never just one road to take. Life is a struggle to make the decision of which road to take but a choice must be made.
Throughout time, humans have always been required to make difficult, life-changing decisions often in their lives. Frequently they may wonder if they took the right decision, or if they would have a better life had they decided otherwise. Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, is a recollection of the speaker’s decision on which of two roads to take, this being a metaphor of a person making decisions in their life. These decisions obviously must be different, else they would be easy to make. In the poem, however, the roads look “about the same” making it an even more difficult decision for the speaker.
David Wyatt writes, "Nowhere in Frost is the tension between surprise and anticipation, wayward experience and the form into which it is cast or forecast, more acute than in 'The Road Not Taken'" (129). As the poem is read, one cannot help but be pulled into the questions of which road will be chosen, how they differ, and what will become of the traveler. Perhaps some hope to find guidance for their own journeys by seeking answers in Frost's work. According to Michael Meyer, "The speaker's reflections about his choice are as central to an understanding of the poem as the choice itself." (97) Frost himself admits, "it's a tricky poem, very tricky." (Pack 10)
In the poem “The Road Not Taken” the speaker was in the woods and come to a junction where there is two choices in the direction that he might proceed. Robert Frost based this poem on the choice a person must make in life, right or wrong, it determine their fate. Both roads seem to be traveled equally and he must make a decision which direction to go. This is considered to be a once in a lifetime choice, even though he justifies his actions within itself by saying that he will choose the other road next time. In some choices there are no second chances, the choice may must be the choice that you live with, considering there is no right or wrong choice.
This poem by Robert Frost was first read to me in the last year of my high school experience. Back then, not only did I have absolutely no interest in any literary work, but moreover, had no intension to lye there and analyze a poem into its symbolic definitions. Only now have I been taught the proper way to read a literary work as a formalistic critic might read. With this new approach to literature I can understand the underlying meaning to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken". In addition to merely grasping the author's intension, I was able to justly incur that this poem, without directly mentioning anything about life's decisions, is in its entirety about just that.
...us hate through the symbols of fire and ice. The narrator chooses fire over ice because it’s the most relatable for them and is, in his or her mind, preferable to the hate and coldness of ice. The narrator in “The Road Not Taken” also makes a decision based on how the choices presented relate to them. They chose to be an individual and not to shape their life around someone else’s decision. “Fire and Ice” is, at a deeper level, also very different from “The Road Not Taken” because it presents two specific choices that both lead to the same end while “The Road Not Taken” opens up the possibility for endless paths and decisions with an unknown result. Regardless of where the poems guide the narrator, Frost makes it clear that our decisions affect who we are, but also opens up speculation about what it would be like had we taken different turns. It’s impossible to know.
In analyzing the poem 'The Road Not Taken'; by Robert Frost, it represents 'the classic choice of a moment and a lifetime.';(pg 129) He relies much on the reflections of nature to convey his theme. However, this poem seems to be in essence very simple but
¡°The Road Not Taken¡± by Robert Frost is s poem of description as he was revealing what he experienced when he had to make a decision. The physical journey Robert Frost described in his poem was there were two different ways for him to choose where they would both end to the same place.
The poem “The Road Not Taken” was written by Robert Frost. According to me this poem is a throwback on people’s unique knowledge in life. I personally feel like Frost was talking about the time we currently live in, when people make sturdy or inappropriate decisions in life. After reading this poem over and over again, what I gathered up was that Frost was expressing the belief that it is you who chooses the road or path that you take or choose that makes you the man who you are today and will be tomorrow.
In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.
In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, author Robert Frost uses the simple image of a road to represent a person’s journey through life. A well-established poet, Frost does a proficient job of transforming a seemingly common road to one of great importance, which along the way helps one identify who they really are. This poem is one of self-discovery. Frost incorporates strong elements of poetry such as theme, symbolism, rhyme scheme, diction, imagery, and tone to help create one of his most well known pieces about the human experience.