Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Symbolism in poetry of Robert Frost
Symbolism in poetry of Robert Frost
Symbolism in poetry of Robert Frost
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Symbolism in poetry of Robert Frost
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler” (Page 756 Stanza 1). This is the beginning of an iambic tetrameter by Robert Frost in which he expresses the thoughts of the speaker as they come to a fork in the road. The speaker faces a dilemma of deciding which path to take. Frost uses a closed form with a rhyme scheme of “ABAAB.” The speaker reaching the fork in the road is symbolism for a particular decision that he must make in life. The first stanza is setting up the situation in which the speaker must observe both choices and make a decision and stick with it. This poem allows the reader to use their imagination and is also relatable in everyone’s everyday lives. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses a good rhyme scheme, description, and symbolism to describe an important life decision as well as show the thoughts of the speaker as he makes this decision.
The fork in the road is symbolic to a time in someone’s life when they are faced with making a decision that is life changing and one must stop and think about each one. The...
“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
The Road Not Taken: Poetry Explication Decisions are an everyday part of life. Although many decisions made throughout the day may not be crucial to our path of life, most every decision will affect life in some way. Pop tarts or bagels, milk or orange juice, as well as driving or taking the bus are all choices people make to begin their day, but Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a perfect example of a life altering decision. Frost wrote this poem when his dear friend, Edward Thomas, was stuck between staying with Frost and becoming a poet, or going to war against Germany in World War I. “Two Roads”, later changed to “The Road Not Taken”, angered Thomas, and caused him to enlist in the war, only to be killed in action two months later at Arras on Easter Day. "
The first line in "The Road Not Taken" is "two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Frost 1). This gives the reader right off of two separate choices that the traveler can choose. The second line is "and sorry I could not travel both” (frost 2). This lets the reader know that in fact the traveler did choose one path. Just by reading the first two lines the reader can already feel the tone of being decisive. Throughout the poem it gives great descriptions as the travel compares to two paths. An example of this one would be line 8, "Because it was grassy and wanted wear". This statement also lets the reader know that the traveler already knew which one to pick by the looks of the road, thus road being the less traveled upon. At the end of the poem, the line 19 &20 lets us know the traveler has made a decision. Though in the traveler’s words one can almost sense sadness. The traveler explains that one day he would like to go back and travel the other path.
The central image that Frost presents, which is the path, provides a clear picture that the reader can focus on in order to reveal something about the poem. The “two roads diverged in a yellow wood'; vividly portray the fact that it is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity that will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path that one encounters. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler "looks down one as far as I could." The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. As much as he may strain his eyes to see how far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead. It is the path that he chooses that sets him off on his journey and determines where he is going and what he will encounter.
In “The Road Not Taken” Frost emphasizes that every person is a traveler choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey-life. There is never a straight path that leads a person one sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, “The Road Not Taken” has left me with many different interpretations. Throughout this poem, it is obvious that decisions are not easy to make and each decision will lead you down a different path.
Exploiting symbolism is used by containing objects in the poem that represent an article of something relevant in the reader’s life; therefore, assisting in the presentation of the theme. The primarily symbolized object in this poem is the fork in the road, which is the basis of the theme. “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” (Frost.
Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken is a poem about the choices every person must make in their life. The first line of this poem, “Two Roads diverged in a yellow wood”, though only seven words long, can be interpreted to mean several things. First, the color of the trees being yellow, meaning that it is fall, represents a time of change. Second, the “two roads diverged” signify a choice which must be made. In this first line Frost has metaphorically depicted a person who must make a decision that will greatly change his life. The second stanza describes the road that is chosen as grassy and wanting wear. The second to last line of the poem also says that the speaker took the “road less traveled by”. These two lines can be interpreted to mean that the choice that was made was not the popular choice. The speaker in the poem has made his decision based on individual preference, rather than what others would consider normal.
In the opening stanza, Frost describes coming to a point during a walk along a rural road that diverges into two separate, yet similar paths. The narrator finds that he ...
Symbolism is another important element to consider when reading this poem. The fork in the road symbolizes an important life event, a key choice that the speaker of the poem must make. The way he chooses to take will determine the course of his life, and he
Above all, 'The Road Not Taken'; can truly be interpreted through much symbolism as a clear-sighted representation of two fair choices. The two roads in the poem, although, 'diverging,'; lead in different directions. At the beginning they appear to be somewhat similar, but is apparent that miles away they will grow farther and farther away from each other. Similar to many choices faced in life. It is impossible to foresee the consequences of most major decisions we make and it is often necessary to make these decisions based on a little more than examining which choice 'wanted wear.'; In
One of Robert Frost’s most well known poems is The Road Not Taken. Frost had mentioned numerous times that it was a “tricky- very tricky” poem (Grimes). This can be examined in the structure of the poem, the symbolism, and the diction. The simple language he uses in the poem reveals the common relevance of the poem to the people. People have to go about making choices each and every day of their lives. However, sometimes we come to a cross-road in our lives that can be life changing that is what the sentence structure reveals to us (Mcintyre). He uses common words but in a way that is unclear to the reader. For example the opening line of the poem is “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Frost, Robert. “1.”). The reader is not sure what is meant by yellow woods. It may mean the onset of fall or even the coming of spring. The season could relate to the speakers stage in life. It may mean this is their youth and they have to make a decision that will plan out the rest of their life, such as I am about what college to attend. Or is it indicating he has reached his mid-life, the fall, and is now presented with opportunity to change his...
The overarching theme throughout the entire poem is that of choices. The concept of “two roads diverged,” or a split in the road, is a metaphor representing a choice which the narrator must make. Being “sorry [he] could not travel both… [being] one traveler” illustrates that, although he wishes he could see the results of both choices, as seen in saying he “looked as far as [he] could to where it bent,” he is but one pers...
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray weighing of choices in life. The former is about youth and experiencing life and the latter is about old age, or more probably, an old spirit wearied by life. In both poems the speaker is in a critical situation where he has to choose between two paths in life. In “The Road Not taken” the speaker chooses the unconventional approach to the decision making process, thus showing his uniqueness and challenging mentality while in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker seeks a life without any pain and struggle but at the end, he has to comply with social obligation, which reflects his responsibility towards the society.
The main theme of the poem that Frost attempts to convey is how important the decisions that one makes can be, and how they affect one’s future. In lines 2-3, he expresses the emotions of doubt and confusion by saying, “And sorry I could not travel/ And be one traveler, long I stood”, which explains how the speaker contemplated their decision of which road to take. In the closing, line 20 of the poem further reestablishes the theme when it states, “that has made all the difference”, meaning that making the decision of which road to take for themselves is the important key for a successful future. Frost helps to express this theme by using symbolism to portray a road as one’s journey of life. Using symbolism, Frost suggests that the speaker of this poem is taking the harder of the two roads presented before them, because the road the speaker chooses, “leaves no step had trodden black” (12...
The speaker communicates many things in the first stanza of the poem. The first line, ?Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,? uses imagery with the color yellow, the color of gold, to show that the speaker sees an opportunity ahead of him. The two roads symbolizes the choices and consequences he must choose. The next line, ?And sorry I could not travel both,? illustrates how difficult it is to make a choice. It is impossible not to wonder what could happen by choosing the other road and what he could be missing out on. ?And being one traveler long I stood,? shows how the speaker would like to be in two places at once. Unable to accomplish this, he takes a long time to decide on what he should do. Finally, the speaker describes studying the first option, looking as far into the future as he possibly could with the lines, ?And looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth.?