Inner Journey Cosi

In The journey by Mary Oliver she uses figurative language to convey metaphors throughout the story. She uses metaphors to also convey a theme which is” Life is An ongoing Journey that all people must undergo and how people must become independent and not rely on others.” Mary Oliver causes the reader to fully experience the barriers in life. Ultimately showing the real world survival, and to show one’s need to find his/herself dependent on knocking down the obstacles in their way. For example oliver includes “The Road Not Taken”, she uses this, because it shows comparison of a physical journey to a spiritual journey towards tackling a barrier or problem in life, this shows to be independent because its not your peers road to tackle the problems

Through assigned text, the film Chocolat, and through my related texts, the graphic novel Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley, and the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, the concept that an unexpected detour on a journey can lead to a significant reward or outcome for the individuals is explored. Seconds, a graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley, explores the idea that while on a journey, an unexpected detour can lead to a significant reward for the individual. The detour on the journey for the protagonist, Katie, in this text, is coming into contact with a spirit who allows Katie to change one thing about her past. Katie to abuses this power and she starts to realise how changing her past is changing her present life.

Snow here could represent dullness or loneliness. Frost feels that everything or everyone around him are filled with loneliness, no excitement and everything seems to be the same. Line four in the poem says that “But a few weeds and stubble showing last.” Here it tells us that although dullness, emptiness, or loneliness covered almost everything around him, he could still see some life or excitement somewhere in between. Yet this small bits of life and excitement were nothing compared to the overwhelming emptiness. In the next couple of lines, Frost seems to have forgotten all about the weeds and stubble he saw and put his attention back to the empty, snow covered surroundings. He then looks at the woods near the field and that too have been covered in snow. He also mentioned that all the animals are covered in snow in their lairs. These two lines again emphasize how Frost feels. He knows that there are live around him, yet those life are also filled with emptiness. Soon he even realized that not only the surroundings that were filled with loneliness, but Frost himself are also in it as line eight says, “The loneliness includes me unawares.”

The meaning that Frost is portraying is not obvious by the title of this poem. This poem is not literal it is meant to be metaphorical. Frost Personifies nature to have life-like traits. The title does not give you an idea of what the poem is about or what the poem means.

In the first fifteen lines Frost uses the metaphor of a boy swinging the limbs of the birch tree for what nature really does. The poet describes the tree limbs in the winter with imagery “Loaded with ice," that cracks and "crazes their enamel.” The word enamel is also metaphor, comparing the bark to enamel. Also, the snow is metaphorically compared to broken glass that is swept away.

It is in the first stanza, the narrator declares “…And be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could…”. With the use of the personal pronouns, it allows the responders to be put forth and be apart of the scenario and to presented the choice due to the text inviting the reader to primarily be the narrator. This conveys to the responders to find a connection themselves, and to ultimately be asked about their own journey of discovery and to be questioned what it means to exist. This is also explore within the title ‘The road not taken’, as the poem also encompasses the anticipation of remorse. As ironic as it is, with such title, it indicates that the speaker knows that in the near future he will think twice and at the very least, will reflect on the other unknown path and what is irreversibly lost. The responders are able to connect with the narrator and his position as we also experience frustration of the unpredictability of life along with fate. Additionally, the poem is one extended metaphor, a relatable metaphoric scenario, and with decision, life will be changed as each journey becomes a result of choice. Through ‘The road not taken’, the narrator compares the allurement of decision-making to humanity, providing insight to the emotional discovery in gaining appreciation for life’s small

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--/ I took the one less traveled by,/ And that has made all the difference,” stated in “The Road Not Taken”

In addition, the use of metaphor helps the reader determined the complexities of a choice that will decide his future. Poetic elements such as symbolism and metaphors help the reader learn that this poem is trying to show that life is a combination between decisions and fate. In addition, “The Road Not Taken” is teaching the reader that every little thing can change our life

(Frost 105) The old saying says that a picture is worth a thousand words is just simply amateur for Robert Frost. The fact that Robert Frost can paint a magnificent portrait from seven words is astonishing. The obvious symbolism for this first line is that the yellow wood represents that it is fall. Leaves are falling, the weather is changing and for many people in the south it is their favorite time of the year.

One symbolic word in the poem is night. Night usually is referencing to dark, but in this literature, it is referring to depression and emptiness. To begin with, the main character is acquainted with the night, therefor he is familiar with depression and being lonely. This is not the first time he has been engulfed with these type of emotions and feelings. Also, he is the only one who is walking the streets, meaning he is lonely. Line seven states, “I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet…” indicating that he is the only one making a sound. While everyone else is in their homes, he is wandering the streets feeling useless. Normally, light is seen as being bright. Frost portrays this light as happiness and joy. The main character is unfamiliar with those feelings and outwalks the bright light, as shown in line three, “I have outwalked the furthest city light.” Although night and light differ from each other, they both explain the character’s perception of his

B. “Two roads diverged in yellow wood” suggest that its fall season, making the theme seem like “he was falling apart”

Frost first illustrates the use of symbolism through the bending of the birches in order to allude to a freedom from reality. In this manner, he begins by imagining that the shapes and bends of the birch trees were caused by a young boy climbing and swinging gleefully upon the trunks; as he once did. This moment of nostalgia allows him to reflect to his childhood, wistfully wishing to return to a more carefree time where he too was a “kicker of branches.” To emphasize this idea, he goes on to compare the climbing of the thick wood trunks, to attempting to reach up towards heaven. As a result of this, Frost desperately wishes to escape from the ground, and in a sense, the real world.

The Road Not Taken begins with the character having to choose which road to take inside a yellow wood. Yellow woods is an example of a metaphor in life's journey

By choosing the harder path, the speaker declares his rebellion against the popular opinion as represented by the other road. He decides not to conform to society and takes up a less popular choice. When considering his choices the speaker shows the typical human reaction. He considers taking both paths at first. He says, “Oh I kept the first for another day”, but later confesses he “doubted if [he] should ever come back” (13-15). Thus the poem’s significance lies in the speakers making a decision by choosing a road and moving on with his life. The act of choosing the road represents his uniqueness and the fact that he is always moving forward, even without stopping.

Therefore, in the second stanza “Too dark in the woods for a bird,” (line 5), he uses this imagery to express that even birds cannot live in the woods because of how much darkness is present. Birds singing resemble happiness, and the woods and its darkness are showing two scenes contradicting each other, showing in some way the deeper meaning beyond the literal one. Another symbol used by Frost was light, symbolizing hope: “The last of the light of the sun.” In this line he gives a clue to the reader expressing how even though it was dark, there could still be a chance for light to come in those woods for some hope and maybe