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. In Frost's poem he uses metaphors to describe the action of decision making. For example, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could
not travel both ” this is the first and second line in the poem. This line describes the two roads as two tough options. It shows how he could not travel both and could only choose one. The road is a metaphor for the impact it will have on the future. “When the speaker looks at the road, but he can not see where it will lead, the poet is expressing that no one knows what the future will bring” (CarolDavis enotes.com). The whole poem is an extended metaphor “Well the entire poem is an extended metaphor for the pain of making a difficult choice” (BrendanM). Following metaphor is symbolism. The Roads are a symbol for Choices or decisions taken in life and not knowing which path will be better than the other. “It is sometimes impossible to know which path will be the most rewarding”(enotes.com). In line 18-20 “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference” Frost talks about the roads and how his decision has changed his life. Going back to lines 8-10, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear; though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same,” Frost describes how both roads were about the same in looks and neither one could be better than the other.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost shows the reader how the choices they make will be hard decisions and will follow them. The setting of this poem takes place in the woods, in the fall. The woods will typically be a quiet and serene place making the setting an ideal place for decision making. The setting also helps to show the symbolism that Frost shows by describing the two paths. Frost uses pathos when appealing to the reader’s feelings because any reader has had to make a decision in their life. Creating this symbol helps to relate to the reader. The Imagery that is created helps to make the reader feel as if they are standing in the snowy woods, looking down two paths, and trying to make the decision of which one to take. Frost used
Poems can be extremely difficult to comprehend and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost was not an exception. In this poem, it displays how the speaker has come to a fork in a path in the woods. He is unsure which way to go, and wishes he had the option to go both ways. He looks down one path as far as he can but then decides to take the other one because it is not quite as worn. The speaker then reflects on how he wishes he would of taken the other path and how it affected his life.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” (rpt. In Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 10th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2009] 725 presents itself with a traveler that is dissatisfied with the decision that he has to make. A situation of life sometime requires a decision to be made between two things that will have a huge impact in the end. The consequences are not always what we expect.
One of Robert Frost’s most celebrated poems “The Road Not Taken”, makes anyone who reads the poem wondering what if. The symbolism of the fork in the road has been the topic of many interpretations, however, many claim that this poem symbolizes the never-ending curiosity that exist within human nature, making choices in life not knowing the how it will affect one’s life. Through the course of time, one may come to consider the selection of the road they've chosen, contemplate on the potential opportunities gained or lost through such choices, and wonder about "The Road Not Taken.”
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”
Robert Frost utilizes several poetic techniques to reveal the theme in his poem, “The Road Not Taken”, which is stressing the importance the decision making of one is, regardless of whether or not it is agreement with the resolution of their peers, and how it can affect their future. The techniques exercised in this piece of work are symbolism, imagery, and tone. Symbolism is the most powerfully used technique due to the fact a good number of lines located in this poem is used to signify a certain object or idea related to our life or today’s world. Imagery is significant in drawing out the theme for the reason that it allows the reader to construct a depiction in their mind, permitting them to relate more to the poem and interpret the theme their own way. In this poem, imagery permits the reader to imagine the scene that this poem takes place in resulting in an enhanced understanding of the theme. The tone this work presents is an insecure attitude which allows the theme to be brought out due to the fact the theme relates to a dilemma in one’s life. As seen by the reader, these techniques strongly aid in the revealing of this specific theme. The first technique Frost utilizes to uncover the theme is the strongest method, symbolism.
In Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” there are many complexities that ultimately lead to the poem’s unity. At first glance this poem seems to be a very typical coming of age poem where the speaker has come to a major fork in the road and he must decide which path to take. At first glance this would be a very good statement to make; however, as the reader digs deeper and searches for the complexity and the nuances of the poem the original assessment seems to be shallow and underdeveloped. In order to truly appreciate this poem as a work of art, the reader must search for the unity and complexity within it, otherwise this poetic work of art will go by unnoticed and cast off as a coming of age poem and nothing else.
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.
Decisions, decisions! So, what we do is come up with some justification for the choice we have made, even though we are already questioning our decision, even as we make it. When the choices are so close to being equal, does it real...
The Road Not Taken Throughout life, people come across situations that one is forced to make a choice. Robert Frost conveyed the decision making process in a world famous poem, “The Road Not Taken.” Many people assume that Frost’s poem is about a person who is conflicted on making an important decision in life; however, the poem was originally wrote to tease one of his closest friends, and fellow poet, Edward Thomas. Frost and Thomas would go on walks in the woods together and Thomas would lead Frost down one path, and later wish they had chosen another.
Frost uses this technique in his poem The Road Not Taken, saying “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”. This is a metaphor for a tough decision in life, the two roads represent a tough decision that must be made. The narrator realises that this decisions will have a significant affect on his future. This technique is also used in another poem of Frosts Fire And Ice although it is an implied metaphor Frost compares fire and ice without implying it , the fire becomes a metaphor for human desire “From what I've tasted of desire”. The ice becomes a metaphor for hatred “I think I know enough of hate”.
The poem The Road Not Taken, written by Robert Frost, is a centered on choices. In stanza one, he/she is walking on path and then is confronted all of a sudden when the road splits into two directions forcing him to decide which way to go. These two paths represent big decisions that he/she has to make and signifies that something in their life is changing, forcing them to make a choice. However, in lines six and seven, he/she says “then look the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim”. When it came time to making their choice, he/she contemplates whether he/she made the right choice and thinks about if whether one path is better, or they are both the same. In stanza three, he continues to think about the path he took and thinks about how his life will be different if he/she took the other path. In the last stanza, the tone of the poem becomes more darkened and mysterious when he/she says “sigh”. The word “sigh” reflects the amount of risks when making these decisions and you must examine the two paths very carefully because both paths have the same characteristics and you can’t go back. When Frost adds the personification of “it was grassy and wanted to wear”, this highlights how choices can create curiosity and a sense of adventure that will come with the risk of
Everyone needs a sense of morals in life. These morals can be learned from family members, past experiences or even nature. Robert Frost takes imagery, emotion, symbolism, and he often uses nature in his poetry to not only paint a picture in the readers mind, but also to create a more of each work.
Perhaps one of the most well-known poems in modern America is a work by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. This poem consists of four stanzas that depict the story of the narrator traveling through the woods early in the morning and coming upon a fork in the path, where he milled about for a while before deciding upon one of the two paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing otherwise, seeing himself telling of this experience in the future.
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.