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A Short Note From Robert Frost
Analyzing the theme of the poem the road not taken
A Short Note From Robert Frost
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Even though Frost began writing in the late nineteenth century, we are still only beginning to communicate a reasonable evaluation of his poetry. Robert Lee Frost was born on 26 March 1874 in San Francisco, the first child of William Prescott Frost, Jr., of New Hampshire and Isabelle Moodie of Scotland. As crucial high school was for Frost, he found himself attracted to classical languages and literature and romantic lyric poetry. Frost took his first steps toward a career in poetry. He worked hard, reminisced over his mother's tales of heroism, and issued his first poem. As time passed, Frost wrote many poems that later appeared in his first three books. In September 1912 Frost arrived in London and in May 1913 Ezra Pound published in Poetry the first significant American review of a Frost book. Pleased with Frost's first book, Pound was enthusiastic about the second. At forty years old, the father of a family, he sent letter after letter to friends in the United States, outlining his technique and advising them to publicize his achievement. Frost confronted typical modernist concerns with poems of alienation and shattered communication. With reviews by Pound and Amy Lowell supporting him, Frost was soon recognized as an acknowledged leader of the new poetry. Frost was named Phi Beta Kappa Poet at Tufts. After four years he had a third collection published, was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters, was named Phi Beta Kappa Poet at Harvard, was hired as a professor by Amherst College, and was awarded the first of his forty-four honorary degrees, by Amherst. By the 20th century, Robert Frost became one of the most famous American writers. One of his most popular poems, “The Road Not Taken”, was written in the ye...
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... Paths often unfold themselves as they are traveled and most individuals do not realize their journey's end until they arrive at it.
Even though one road was to some extent less traveled than the other, they were truly “about the same.” The roads are the same. They both have leaves that no traveler has stepped on. Once the traveler made the decision to take one road, he distinguishes that he will probably never face this same decision again and his opportunity is lost. He is dedicated to the path fewer have traveled and looks back on his decision from a time to time in his future, placing more of importance into it than there was at the time. The roads were practically identical. There surely was no difference. The traveler is not being entirely straightforward with himself or he is being exceedingly dramatic about am insignificant decision he made some time ago.
Selected Poems by Robert Frost, New York: Barnes and Noble, 2001 3.Graham, Judith, ed. Current Biography Yearbook Vol. 1962, New York: The H.W Wilson Company, 1993 4.Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, New York: Penguin Group, 1962 5.Weir, Peter. Dead Poets Society, 1989
And in the poem, because this was the life decision, the narrator agonize about his path. Yet, at the end he decided to take “the one less traveled by”. The narrator won’t know how his decision will affect his life until it has already changed it. Same thing goes to Christopher McCandless. When he wants to go “into the wilderness not primarily to ponder nature or the world at large but, rather, to explore the inner country of his own soul.” (page 183) He didn’t expect the resolution of his own path. However, he accepted his future and left a note; “I HAVE HAD A HAPPY LIFE AND THANK THE LORD. GOODBYE MAY GOD BLESS ALL!” (page 199). Lastly, these both literature shares same theme concepts of tragedy. For example, the narrator said “I took the one less traveled by” Because he took the one less traveled by, it could be considered that he probably had to deal with loneliness and alienation. Same goes to Christopher McCandless. When he accidently ate false potato seeds, he realized the “HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED”.(page 189) Eventually he died because of starvation.
He then considers the second path. He sees it is less worn and has more grass. The leaves are still untrodden so the paths remain fresh and exciting. It seems that he is the first traveller to pass this way for a while
The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual. The speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one and he "doubted if I should ever come back.
“Four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco” on March 26, 1874 to his parents Isabelle and William (Dreese). Frost lived with his loving mother, abusive father, and sister Jeanie. “Because his father was a violent drunk, Frost as a child witnessed the fury and rage of his father on a regular basis, and if his mother spoke in disagreement, William became brutal, smashing furniture and yelling” (Dreese). His mother, Isabelle would “run into the streets with her children to find refuge” (Dreese). Frost suffered from “stomach pains and other mysterious ailments” due to all of the emotional situations he went through while he was young (Dreese). His mother home-schooled him after he couldn’t handle going to public school. His love of nature started to evolve as he g...
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Literature and the Writing Process. Ed. Elizabeth McMahan et al. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson, 2007. 695-696. Print.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 7th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 689. Print.
A journey’s significance is determined by how it impacts on the individuals involved, this often results in individuals growing and learning about themselves or their reality whilst undertaking a journey. This undoubtedly has an impact on how an individual’s journey ends. Thus journeys are measured by the culmination of an individual’s growth as demonstrated by where they end up at the conclusion of their journey. John Keats’ works, ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ support this idea as the inner journey the persona undergoes
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.
Choices in life can be as simple as deciding where to go out to eat or what to wear and as difficult as deciding which college to enroll in and who to marry. The most strenuous part is not knowing if you made the right decision because even the simplest choices can shape the future. There are no guarantees in life so every decision counts. Second guessing is as natural to humans as breathing, which makes the decision making process that much harder because it is more than just picking something and sticking with it, there is always the curiosity of what if? Even when faced with the most difficult decisions one must live with the choices they have made, which is very similar to what the speaker of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is forced to deal with.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken”. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7Th Ed. Nina
The narrator must choose between two 'fair'; roads, of which he cannot see the endpoints. Wandering between the two, he finally decides to take the road 'less traveled by.'; Yet, like most people, he later sighs with regret thinking of what he might have
Robert Frost, an exceedingly known and famous American poet of the 20th century, is often quoted in day-to-day life and recognized for his creative state of mind. Of all his poetic elements, Frost's style seems to be the hardest to pin down. Certainly, essential elements of Frost's style is his choice of words or diction, his use of everyday words that are used in conversation, and the way he writes his sentences with rhythm to enhance their beauty. In addition, he also uses many poetic devices adding to the craftsmanship of his poems. Due to his unique style of writing, one of his illustrious poems, “The Road Not Taken”, is often misinterpreted or misused. The title alone catches the reader’s attention, but it, too, is often misinterpreted.
A particularly prominent challenge of the human experience is that of decision making, as, in practice, the process is often far more complex than initially considered. This theme is explored in the poem “The Road Not Taken”, which was written in 1916 by the renowned American poet Robert Frost. He was born in March 26, 1874 and passed away in January 29, 1963 – during his life he received four Pulitzer Prizes, which, in America, is regarded as the highest national honour in literary achievements. Frost also has many other successful pieces; he generally provokes deeper thought under social and philosophical domains. In relation to ‘The Road Not Taken’, this is indeed the case. The poem is simply constructed, however, beneath the surface lies
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.