The Road Not Taken Metaphors

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

Beginning with the words “two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” the conflict is established because the fork in the road symbolizes a difficult decision or choice, therefore connoting feelings of apprehension because the reader is able to infer a future crisis involving the speaker (1). The two roads are a metaphor for a the journey of life; the decisions everyone has to to make and the outcomes that come from them. The use of description of the woods as “yellow” indicate the perception of age and the idea that the speaker is running out of time (1). This harsh connotation brings about feelings of urgency and reveals the speakers trepidatious attitude towards his situation, building up the negativity of the

Frost makes this the only stanza which also begins with a new sentence, indicating a stronger break from the previous ideas. The tone clearly shifts from the uncertainty of the first three stanzas. When speaker expresses that he “shall be telling this with a sigh,” Frost masterfully creates a visual sigh in the third line of this stanza when the speaker states, “...and I -- / I took the one less traveled by…” creating a more personal connection with the reader (16, 17, 18). Frost leaves it to the reader to determine if the sigh is of joy or sorrowor of sorrow. Although part of him is regretful, he realizes that the things he has seen and the places he has been because of the road he did take made him who he is and “made all the difference” (20). Frost leaves the reader with many unanswered questions, wondering whether or not the speaker is happy with his choice or if he wishes he had gone on the road not taken. The rhythm and meter in "The Road Not Taken," leaves the reader unsettled and questioning. Frost uses a loose iambic tetrameter throughout his poem but mixes in other types of meter. This sound pattern creates the illusion of an irregularly beating heart reflecting that of a person who is in the middle of a big decision or crisis. Throughout the poem, the speaker skips a beat which carries the reader along with