The Road Not Taken, By Robert Frost

In “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, we are given a piece of art that simply will leave you clueless unless, you understand the pain and frustration the man is going through; when choosing what route he feels will give him the most joy. In the poem a man is walking through the woods and he comes upon a fork. He who wants to take both roads chooses the route that he feels is traveled less on. Little does he know that both road have been equally traveled on. He who travels on the route that has fresher leaves lies to himself, by convincing himself that he will come back and take the other route. Though it was a very stressful and a hard decision for the man to make, many people are put into very similar situations like in John Updike’s A and P and as well as in James Joyce’s Eveline. Both Sammy and Eveline find it troubling to make a decision that will change their life completely.

I am going to talking about Robert Frost’s poems in my essay. I will try to summarize and analyze these poems of Frost; ‘’Mending Wall’’ ‘’Home Burial’’, ‘’The Road Not Taken’’, Birches’’, ‘’Fire and Ice’’, ‘’Nothing Gold Can Say’’, ‘’Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’’, ‘’Departmental’’ and ‘’Design’’.

In the early 1920s Robert Lee Frost wrote one of his most intriguing poems, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” in 1922 which was later published in 1923. The poem, simply put, being about a man walking through the woods on a snowy evening admiring the surroundings. However, at a closer look, Frost’s poem is a lot more meaningful than just a story about a patch of snow on some bark, it is a story about nature and isolation. It involves a lot of emotions, themes, symbols, and unique writing styles that make it one of Frost’s most galvanizing

In “The Road Not Taken” the speaker stands in the woods trying to decide which road to take at a fork in the path because both paths are filled with levees and brush. The speaker finally chooses one path, telling himself that he will take the other path another day even though he knows that he might not ever be able to do that. In the end he admits that if he would have taken the other road that might have made a difference in his life today.

During his life, Robert Frost, the icon of American literature, wrote many poems that limned the picturesque American landscape. His mostly explicated poems “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” reflect his young manhood in the rural New England. Both of these poems are seemingly straightforward but in reality, they deal with a higher level of complexity and philosophy. Despite the difference in style and message, “Birches” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” are loaded with vivid imagery and symbolism that metaphorically depict the return to nature and childhood, the struggle between reality and imagination and also life and death.

In “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost depicts the weighing of major life decisions. In "The Road Not taken" the speaker find himself in a dilemma where has to choose between two roads, and decides to take the “less traveled” one to deal with. While in "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" the speaker has to choose between two different worlds and seeks for one that can offer him a life out of the ordinary. Robert Frost uses nature to portray that in both poems depict the situation of making life choices.

"The road not chosen" is a beautiful poem written by Robert Frost, which raises the metaphor of life as a journey in which alternatives force us to choose which path to follow. When we come to a fork, a crucial point of the journey, we must make a decision. We know that the future will depend on that choice. We can choose the most traveled road, the one that most people would choose (by habit or comfort) and therefore , will be easier since the path is marked, or venture down the road less traveled and build our own path, make our way before the difficulties, face obstacles and unforeseen events.

In “Mowing” and “The Road Not Taken” Robert Frost uses the beauty of nature and descriptive, vivid words to hear, as well as see within the poems. His words are not extravagant yet simply thoughtful. Robert frost uses his technique “Sound of Sense” in his poetry. This technique is used to emphasize the natural world and human determination.

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening” reveals how a simple moment spent appreciating nature and the temptations it holds can symbolize a deeper, dangerous sense of isolation from the civilized world, and how a connection to civilization can save you .Through imagery, mood and meter, the poet carefully constructs a scene for his audience. The scene is brief, like the poem. It is a pause on a journey, on a dark night in winter, through lovely, deep woods that tempt the poet to remain. A quick action by the poet’s horse, a shake of harness bells, immediately pulls the poet back to his journey and his responsibilities. It is tempting to simply read the poem and appreciate the moment at face value. However, much like the forest in the poem, a deeper look into the poem’s construction may be necessary to fully appreciate that scene.

Plot is not a strong factor in many of Frost’s poems. In one of his more notable poems “The Road not Taken”, Frost uses the conflict of a traveler wandering into the wilderness and that the traveler comes across two roads. The rising action of the poem then becomes the traveler’s dilemma of which road to take. Frost describes the two roads as “one that is fairly well kept and the other that has been less traveled on and is grassier and more hidden” (47). The roads are a symbol for paths and choices that one must make in one’s lifetime. The road not taken is thought of to be the path that is the right choice in life.

Robert Frost’s “Stopping by woods on a snowy evening” reveals how a simple moment spent appreciating nature and the temptations it holds can symbolize a deeper, dangerous sense of isolation from the civilized world, and how a connection to civilization can save you. Through imagery, mood, and meter, the poet carefully constructs a scene for his audience. The scene is brief, like the poem. It is a pause on a journey, on a dark night in winter, through lovely, deep woods that tempt the poet to remain. A quick action by the poet’s horse, a shake of harness bells, immediately pulls the poet back to his journey and his responsibilities. It is tempting to simply read the poem and appreciate the moment at face value. However, much like the forest in the poem, a deeper look into the poem’s construction may be necessary to fully appreciate that scene.

Robert Frost, one of America’s well-known poets is highly regarded for his realistic illustrations of rural life and poetry which is still relevant in today’s society. After being honoured on numerous occasions, he became one of America’s most popular public figures. Frosts’ poems reflect his greatness and his life in a variety of ways after he was confronted with such despair and grief after the passing of his father due to tuberculosis at just eleven years of age and his mother who passed away in 1900. “The Road Not Taken”, one of his greatest poems written of all times, is often misunderstood by some as an emblem of individual choice and self-reliance. But it was never intended to be read in this way by Frost, who was well aware of the playful ironies contained within it.

In the poem, "The Road Not Taken", the speaker must decide the path he is taking. This poem is about a person who comes to a road, and which path he must take. As the speaker contemplate his decisions, he knows he must make a the “road” a good one. So, he should choose wisely in making the best decision. The speaker chooses his thought very carefully. He says, "And looked down as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth" (DiYanni 539). After giving it some thought, he decides to take the road "less traveled" (DiYanni 540). "The Road Not Taken" implies a troublesome decision in a man's life that could offer him a simple or hard way out. There is no answer of

Robert Frost is one of the most popular and critically respected American poets of the twentieth century. Frost places a great deal of importance on Nature in all of his collections, some of the author’s works that represent this are “Fire and Ice,” “The Road Not Taken,” “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” and “A late Walk.” Frost focuses on dramatic struggles in the natural world in order to inspire deep metaphysical thought.

The works of poet Robert Frost are in fact famous for his time, because they impacted the world of poetry. Though his poems bring the theme of nature, there is more to his rich poetry. His poems shape an image of life and how life interacts with the surrounding environment. Robert Frost’s two poems "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" and "After Apple Picking," talk about the reality of life by telling the story of a person in their early life compared to a person at the end of life.