The Road Not Taken, And All The World At Stage

I say “carpe diem” because, to me, the essays convey the message that we are all going to die someday so we must make the most of the time we are allotted. The most evident symbols of this underlying theme are the dying moth in Woolf’s essay and E. B. White’s realization that time waits for no one in his. As grim as they may be, these two

Robert Frosts “The Road Not Taken” is more symbolic of a choice one must make in their life in attempt to foresee the outcome before reaching the end, than it is about choosing the right path in the woods.

In the poem “Carpe Diem” the speaker, Horace, is giving advice to the reader in a very serious manner. He is advising the reader to live life to the fullest and never take anything for granted. Meanwhile, Robert Herrick is giving the same advice but in a more light-hearted manner. Furthermore, in “Carpe Diem” and “To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time, symbolism and different tones are utilized to portray the theme of living in the moment.

In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand

Carpe diem is when the author makes the reader understand that they are trying to tell them to live to their fullest. In both “To His Coy Mistress” and “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” the author mentions how they should live like it’s their last day and to make the best out of it. Also beauty takes a big role in both poems and how one day it will fade, so for them to take advantage of it now before it fades.

Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken.

In Ben Johnson’s “To the Memory of My Beloved, The Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, and What He Hath Left Us”, Johnson dictates a dramatically sycophantic poem in honor of the late William Shakespeare. With his superficial, dramatic style, Johnson unveils his own envious attitude within the unbegotten admiration he appoints throughout the poem. By complimenting Shakespeare through this ironic voice, Johnson insincerely praises Shakespeare’s legacy in a clever attempt to highlight Shakespeare’s minute but mentionable flaws. Throughout the commemorational poem, Johnson cleverly praises Shakespeare’s seemingly incomparable success as a poet by incorporating other famous poets as a belittling contrast. While meant as a friendly coup de grâce, Johnson’s assessment of Shakespeare is Johnson’s ultimate attempt to align himself with Shakespeare, bearing praise unto himself as well. In a poem meant to highlight and enunciate Shakespeare’s unparalleled skill and talent, Johnson instead attempts to expose his faults in hopes of bringing Shakespeare closer to himself.

In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.

Christopher Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, Make Much of Time” share the same common theme of Carpe Diem. They also have many differences such as the tone, and the type of poem. Marlowe’s is more of a romantic poem, a Shepherd expressing his love to a woman. Herrick’s is more of a preachy poem, the poet is telling these young virgins that they need to hurry up and get married because they do not have much time.

Thesis: In the poem “A Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost shares how sometimes in life one has to make decisions rather they’re good or bad. However there are consequences following one’s decisions and choices. One can use their second chance by looking forward and choosing to take the right paths in life.

In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost uses an extended metaphor of two roads to develop the theme of the hard decisions in life. One example of this is, “And be one traveler, long I stood” in (Frost 3). That means that the author is a traveler with a hard decision to make, also meaning he stood for a long period of time thinking about his decision. Another example is “Through as far that passing there, had worry them really about the same.” (Frost 9). One last example is, “Two roads diverged into in a wood and I took the road less traveled by.” (Frost 18.) Meaning, instead of taking the road that everyone else traveled he took the one less traveled. You’re going to have hard decisions in life, but sometimes dare

The poem is written in first person. Therefore the speaker of the poem is myself.

In life a person should pay attention to the present and not worry about what the future has to come. This idea is what a carpe diem is all about. In each of the poems, they use carpe diem and tell a meaningful story. In the poems, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” by Robert Herrick, “To His Coy Mistress,” by Andrew Marvell, and the song, “Like You’ll Never See Me Again” by Alicia Keys, she talks about how people should value the time and live in the moment.

Both, “To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick and “A Psalm of Life”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, conveys, through a persona, a matured perspective of Carpe Diem. Both poets communicate their individual opinion, Longfellow’s 19th century poem discusses the importance of creating a legacy and leaving an impact on time, whereas Herrick’s 17th century cavalier style poem implies the significance of retaining the prime years of your life, and portrays the brevity of the life cycle. These main aspects of Carpe Diem are expressed through various visual and auditory features to manifest an idea to readers about how to seize the day.

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem that involves a common dilemma faced in every single life. Robert Frost wrote the poem trying to explain to his friend Edward Thomas that he took the best decision in his life taking the road least travel. His friend misunderstood Frost intentions and after read the poem, he took the other road in his life and it made all the difference. Instead of travel to America and be a great professor, Thomas felt the sensation of be an unsuccessful writer and a non-patriotic citizen which help him to take the decision of enlist during the war. After taking the other road in his life, he finishes with his life during the war. The poem creates a connection with the reader because the situation presented emphasizes the life of any person. Every person is forced to decide a path and the decision made it, will always make a difference. The result of a person's character or life is related in the decisions made it during his or her life. In “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost uses different types of conflicts, character versus self, character versus nature, character versus society, to show how the path taken in life makes all the difference.