No Road Taken Perhaps one of the most famous pieces of American poetry, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost can be quoted by any who has read it. At least, the first and last lines. Dispensing with the middle, the poem is then used as caution, encouragement, or counsel to young and old about picking their paths in life. This is a fair sentiment, and probably not one the author would find much fault in the reader for interpreting. After all, this poem seems to speak to the familiar human soul of longing, personal choice, and consequences. Yet, upon closer inspection of the text, the two roads in question are described as being identical in appearance, and are esteemed as matching in value as well. Looking down one path and then “the other, as just as fair” (6), the speaker observes that “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same” (9-10). Both beckon the speaker down their verdant lanes, between which he must inevitably decide. It’s certainly not an easy choice, as the speaker laments, “And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler” (2-3). Indeed, the speaker deems them both appealing, as they “both that morning equally lay / In leaves no …show more content…
Frost hints that it has an impact when he writes, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back” (14-15). But there’s no change of setting or imagery to show how the journey went. In fact, by the final line of the poem, it’s unclear whether either of the roads has been taken at all. If there were no fellow travelers, surely the speaker couldn’t have taken “the one less traveled by” (19). He was the only one to have traveled the identical roads, thereby making whichever one he traveled the more worn of the two. His proclamation that such “has made all the difference” (20), becomes ironic in light of the lack of distinction between the paths, and the contradiction that he took one less traversed than the
At first the traveler believes that this second path must be a better choice, which he says in line seven by stating that it may have a “better claim”. When the speaker says he “took the other, just as fair,” it is a simile comparing the ways he observed both paths to be the same. “Because it was grassy and wanted wear,”(8) is an example of personification by the traveler, saying that the second path “wanted wear”, or wanted to be taken. In the end, the traveler realizes that the choices are both equivalent in a way that will lead to a final outcome. Then the traveler decides in the third stanza that he will take path two, or decides to make the second choice.
I could not travel both" what opportunities will be missed? That is why it is difficult to make a decision. You can't travel down every path you want. It isn't possible to do everything. ",long I stood And looked down one as far as I could"
The ambiguity which dominates the poem seems to be intentional. The only certainty in the poem is that it deals with a solitary traveler who has come to a fork in the road and must choose which way to go.
Robert Frost masterfully uses straightforward diction and a metaphor in his poem “The Road Not Taken” to portray a speaker who is struggling to make a life changing decision, encouraging both the speaker and the readers towards introspection. Frost dramatizes the internal conflict and consequences involved in making an important decision; an experience all humans face many times in their lives. There will always be times in life when a decision that defines destiny and alters the course, must ultimately be decided. By creating a natural atmosphere, the entire poem emphasizes a metaphor in which a person’s journey through life is compared to a journey on a road. The speaker of the poem is forced to choose one path instead of another, knowing
In the poem, a person is walking along a path in an autumn forest in the early hours of the morning, when he stumbles upon a fork in the road. The speaker wishes that he would be able to travel down both of them, but he has places to go, and he does not have enough time. One is worn out from people walking along it so much, and the other is grassy and barely worn from fewer people walking on it. Although neither of them had been traveled on that day, as the leaves were still fresh on the ground, the speaker was compelled to travel the second or grassier path. The speaker fin...
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 ...
The first stanza introduced the reader to the decision the author would have to make. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" to me signified that the result of his decision would arise from the same origin to which in my own life, I can reflect on. And though he would like to have seen the outcome of both paths, he knew he could only choose one. And to help him decide, he would look down both choices and see only until the road took a bend.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” show the readers similar struggles of life. “The Road Not Taken” is about taking control of one’s life and living it aside from how others live theirs. While “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” shows the desire for rest. Sometimes people regret the possibilities of the road not chosen, sometimes people feel proud about the road that they
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
The two roads presented in this poem represent difficult decisions we are faced with in life. He uses the relationship between the paths and real life decisions throughout the whole poem. This is an example of extended metaphor, which is used to help the readers understand the analogy between the two. The man in the poem said: “long I stood” (3), which lets us know the decision was not made instantly. It was hard for the man to make a final judgment.
Wood, Kerry M. "Poetry Analysis: The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost - by Kerry Michael Wood - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. 22 May 2008. Web. 03 May 2011. .
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...
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...
This poem is one of many written by Frost in 1916 and it is commonly used in high school writing classes. It has been written about frequently and often analyzed because of the connection people feel to the poem for the reason that everyone has to make life choices. The reading of the poem touches a wide variety of readers because each one can identify with the writers predicament of having to make a choice, with two different options, as in the poem which road to take either the well-traveled path or as he decides the less journeyed. As an outcome of this choice, the writer states, that his life was profoundly different than it would have been had he taken the other road. The other road the more traveled and seemingly the safer of the two makes the reader seem more fearless to except what the unknown has to offer thus making his own way in the world. In reading further the roads are almost the same both being beautiful and equally passable. The writer tries to explain why things happened the way they did and that is a significant moment in his life. One might pick the road that gets them to w...
The speaker continues to convey his message in the second stanza of ?The Road Not Taken.? In the opening line of this part of the poem, the speaker says, ?Then took the other, as just as fair.? Here, he is turning his attention to the second road...