“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both.” This is the first line of the opening stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken.” The traveler in this story has been walking down a path and come to two diverging roads. Thus, creating a situation in which the traveler must make a decision. This poem is often misinterpreted by readers and critics. The poem is entertaining, but it is not as deep and profound as many people believe. I interpret the poem as a reflection of the uncertainties of life, but in a humorous way.
Frost was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. He was named after the famous Confederate general, Robert E. Lee. Robert Lee Frost lived in San Francisco until he was eleven. At the age of eleven, his father died of tuberculosis, and Frost moved in with his paternal grandparents. Shortly after his father’s death, his family relocated to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Frost attended school at Lawrence High School and graduated in 1892. He graduated as class poet and shared co-valedictorian honors with his current girlfriend and future wife, Elinor White. After high school, he attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was there that he got a job as a newspaper reporter.
Frost was recognized for his literary talent in 1894 when he published his first poem, “My Butterfly” which earned him $15. After this poem was published in New York Independent, he made a copy to show his fiancée Elinor. Her reaction
The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the
So I decided to write an explication essay on the poem “The Road Not Taken”. The poem is by Robert Frost and it tells the story about a man who is thinking about something he had done before. Even though what he did wasn’t looked as being good or bad, it was indicated the decision he made had an outcome that caused a shift in his life.
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.
Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 at San Francisco, California and died January 29, 1963 at Boston, Massachusetts. Frost was an educator and poet. He is widely known for his poetry; some of Frost’s famous work includes The Road Not Taken, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, Mending Wall, and Out, Out─. Out, Out─ tells a story of a young boy cutting wood to help provide for his family. He then acquires an injury on his hand by the saw. The boy ends up dying due to the severity of his wound. His family returns to their duties. This poem uses many elements to emphasize death. Robert Frost uses the poetic elements of imagery, figures of speech, and symbolism to illustrate the theme of death in the poem Out, Out─.
The existence of poetry as an artform predates literacy itself. Over the course of history, poetry grew from a verbal form of art, existing mainly in religious hymns, to becoming the universal “language of the heart”. The work of William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, some of the most notable poets of history, has resonated with generations of Americans. Although they lived in a Pre-industrial world, their work remains powerful because the themes expressed in their artwork can still be applied to modern society. On the contrary, protruding among this group of ancient poets is Robert Frost, whose modern work remains just as powerful, shaping generations through his questions of existence, and depiction of loneliness in an indifferent universe. One of Frost's most celebrated poems: The Road Not Taken, is influential not only in the literary world, but also within American culture. The poems subsequent ripple through American life is analyzed by David Orr In his essay The Most Misread Poem in America. Here, Orr argues that the misread of The Road Not Taken magnifies the underlying issues in society’s understanding of both Frost and poetry as a whole.
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both." (Frost 1) - in life, there are many "paths" or choices; ways one can go in life. He explains that many people go one way, perhaps because others went that same way. "Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear" (Frost 1) In this, Frost is explaining that many people went one way while he wanted to travel the less worn one, because it might hold beautiful views – good experiences that no one else had gotten the chance to learn from. Life, he explains through this metaphor of travel, is full of choices. And going down one path may change ones life. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I- I took the one less traveled by; and it has made all the difference." (Frost 1) Robert Frost continues to teach an important life lesson to readers around the world through this extended metaphor
Elinor White, and they were co-valedictorian's. He proposed to Elinor but she refused his original proposal. Frost went on to attend Dartmouth College and Elinor to St. Lawrence University. Frost left Dartmouth, without graduating, and worked on his writing. He was published for the first time, in 1894, in The Independent. After Elinor graduated Frost proposed again, and the pair were married. They got married in Lawrence, MA on December 19, 1895 and together they had six children whose names were Elliot, Lesley, Carol, Irma, Majorie, and Elinor. He later returned to college at Harvard, where he studied for two years until he had to leave due to illness. In 1912, Frost;s grandfather gave Robert and his family a farm in Derry, New Hampshire where the family became poultry farmers. After 12 years, the family made the decision to move to England ("Robert Frost Biography.com"). Along with writing poems he was also a playwright and enjoyed writing plays just as much as he liked writing poems but did not see the same success in play writing as he saw in poetry Robert Frost is mostly known as a famous poet who is often quoted; for example, a famous quote is, "two roads diverged in a yellow
?The Road Not Taken? (1916) tells of someone faced with two of life?s decisions however only one can be chosen. Whichever road is taken will be final and will determine the direction that their life takes. Frost drives this poem by a calm and collective narrative, spoken by the traveler of the diverged roads. Who is speaking with himself trying to convince himself of which road is the better choice. Frost wrote this poem using standard, modern language.
Frost started writing poetry at the end of the 19th century in the late Victorian period. He, along with others, wanted to reform poetic language away from the stilted, archaic diction used by his followers. Frost believed ordinary conversation
It all started with his first poem, “My Butterfly: An Elegy.” It was published in The Independent in 1894. In 1906, Frost wrote two poems that really showed his love for the landscape. These were named “The Tuft of Flowers” and “The Trial By Existence.” Frost’s first book of poems, “A Boy’s Will,” was released in 1912. A year later, his second book of poems, “North of Boston,” was released. Soon after, the poem “The Road Not Taken,” inspired and wrote while in England, was released. Once again, his love for the outdoors shined through. In 1916, his third collection of poems, called “Mountain Interval,” was released containing poems written in England. Frost received his first pulitzer award for his amazing poem collection called New Hampshire (1924). He also received pulitzer awards for his poem collections Collected Poems (1931), A Further Range (1937), and A Witness Tree (1943). Frost recited his famous poem, “The Gift Outright,” during John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. The poem recited our American History and how we have become who we are today. Robert Frost believed the poems “The Most of It” and “Never Again Would Birds’ Song Be The Same” were two of his best poems. In his poem collection, “A Boy’s Will,” the poems “Storm Fear,” “Mowing,” and “The Tuft of Flowers” revealed a dark theme that had been hidden in Frost’s
Before winning awards and gaining the reputation of being a great poet, Robert Frost struggled early in his life. Before taking his family to England to start a new life in 1912, Frost’s life was highlighted by “variety of different jobs” (727), inconsistent attendance at college, and the attempt to run a farm. He also lost his father at a young age and two of Frost’s children either died or had a mental collapse. However, after his move to England and the publication of his second book, North of Boston, Frost finally found success. Most of Frost’s writings are told in a New England landscape and Frost “represented himself as a New England” (728). This is true in that Frost grew up and lived in New England, despite being born in California. For his
Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Frost influenced my thorough love of different styles of literature, particularly poetry. To the masses, Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Frost only share job titles, but the two poets share many similarities within their writing. Personally, I read pieces from both authors over the course of my schooling experience. I admired Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” from a young age, and that particular stole my heart since the first read. “The Raven,” became one of my favorite poems further down my schooling career, with its clear ominous tone that symbolizes much of Poe’s writing. Frost’s and Poe’s works may not seem similar, aside from the section in which their books reside within a library, but their work resembles each other’s quite well. Frost’s writing serves as a better introduction to poetry due to his easily relatable themes, his background connects to everyday audiences, and his use of modern language.
Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler facing a choice, he can either choose the road not taken, or he can choose the road most traveled by. He does not know where either road might lead, but in order to continue with his journey, he can pick only one road. He analyses both roads for the possibilities of where each may take him in his journey. 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. Frost, uses literary elements, such as Denotation and Connotation, Symbolism, alliteration, consonance, and assonance in order to convey massage.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and “Death, be not proud” by John Donne are two poems with different meanings but share one of many of the same themes. Although the poems share different meanings as a whole, the reader can conclude the same common theme from both of these poems. Even though the reader may think the poems lack a same common theme, the theme is revealed by the end of both these poems. These two poems share the same theme of hopes and dreams. As the reader explores the same common theme of these two poems, the literary devices of personification, imagery, alliteration, metaphor, and irony can be seen throughout these poems as well.
The great poet Robert Frost was asked if the poem, The Road Not Taken, was about an experience in the poet 's life: He answered that a poem is never about an experience, it is an experience. If you succeed in determining exactly what Dylan meant in “Mr. Tambourine Man,” you will have succeeded in destroying it. This is the song that marks the change where Dylan moves on from the public world of overt political protest songs to a focus on the individual consciousness, which I’d like to argue is another more subtle form of protest. “Mr. Tambourine Man” is rich with expressions of emotion. With a new personal approach to songwriting, Dylan takes feelings that he was perhaps dealing with at the time, absorbs them, and artfully crafts them into mysterious lyrics that are simply enamoring. The song has a bright, expansive melody accompanied by Dylan’s jaunty vocals that is beautifully mesmerizing. The song is about the feeling of being trapped in a miserable existence and the desperate yearning for freedom from an individual’s own personal hell. It is about the universal need to escape one’s troubles, no matter what the means are, as long as it allows you to forget, deal, and hopefully transcend. It has become famous in particular for its surrealistic imagery, influenced by artists as diverse as French poet Arthur Rimbaud and Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. The lyrics call on the title character to play a song and the narrator will follow. Interpretations of the