The Road Not Taken

There are many different ways to interpret a poem. While completing an analysis of Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” there were some key factors to be considered that provide a better insight of how the poem was developed and what was the hidden meaning behind the words. The key factors found in the analysis are symbolism, indistinctness, and irony. There are many different ways to express symbolism, and many ways to interpret it. The most significant use of symbolism was in the very first line of the poem, which describes a fork in the road in where the author must choose which path to take.

In the story, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, there is a tale about a traveler, that has walked upon a set of two roads (ln. 1). Although this is what the story literally says, there is hidden meaning behind its words. There is a difference between reading a poem, and understanding what a poem is trying to tell you.

In the poem, The Road Not Taken, written in 1916, the mood feels anticipatory and conflicted because it is written regarding someone who has walked upon two paths in the woods and has to make a choice on which road to take. Frost expresses the idea that once a decision is made, there is no turning back for a second chance. His purpose was to possibly teach a life lesson to the audience or maybe even teach his own self based on the fact that the road the narrator is yet to take represents events going on in his life possible consisting of a mid-life crisis, career, or marriage. The poem reflects how in life, some people may lose their way just as Frost did when he was battling his own self. Frost states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both” which emphasizes the idea that having a sense of decisiveness is a significant value to have in life, something in which Frost lacks.

On third stanza, the poet is providing additional information on the season by “And both that morning equally lay, in leaves no step had trodden black”. This imagery of the season autumn symbolises the perfect layers of yellow leaves on the path as for a long period of time no one has walked on it yet. On third line, onomatopoeia was used which is “oh” that illustrates an emphatic tone for the decision that he made. The traveller is now regretting the decision that he made.

Imagery and personification are used to describe contradiction in the process of making a decision between the two paths. Since he cannot take both roads, the speaker looks down the road but cannot see beyond the undergrowth, which expresses the fact that no one knows what the future will bring. Much of the imagery in the poem is visual to describe the path to show the speaker's indecisiveness of choosing a certain path. He wants to choose the path that is less traveled so he chooses the path that is " having perhaps the better claim" (7), which is the path that is "grassy and wanted wear"(8), a personification to describe that road is not stepped by other people. However, he realizes that there is no appreciable difference between the two paths because "both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black."(11,12) The contradiction with the serious tone shows perplexity that the

Frost uses the debating between the two roads to show the reader the two choices that are presented to him and how those two choices offer countless amount of possibilities. There are multiple different ways to decipher the poem, but Frost connects with the reader in the sense that no matter what road is taken, another road will later replace the past road. Frost begins to notice one of the two roads looks more worn down than the other, “Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same” this is representing real-life traumas and can show the decision making process when choosing between two options. Looking down one of the roads of life before actually following the trail shows a different perspective and point of view from the basic stand point of only seeing a problem one way and never seeing the problem or decision from another point of view. Frost decides in the end to take one of the paths and says he will take the second path another day although he may never go back to the starting point of his journey. It is more than just human instinct to not want to take the more unnatural or harmful pathway; it is easier to take the cleaner path so that the problem will be over with faster and Frost depicts this problem perfectly in the form of a short poem.

In the poem it state, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…” [Green Day (1, 2)] This piece of text displays how the narrator is faced with a hard decision and regrets not being able to take both paths. In the text it also states, “ … to where it bent in the undergrowth… it was grassy and wanted tear… I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” [Robert Frost (5, 8, 19, 20)] These lines from the text help to show how the narrator looks through all his options, and then takes the lesser taken option. This choice was likely made due to the narrator thinking that he/she might not like the choice that other people made, and will end up regretting it, so after taking the lesser chosen path, the narrator is pleased with his/her decision.

"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

In the first line of the poem, readers can picture the speaker standing at “two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” This line paints a clear picture of the poem’s setting. Further along in the first stanza, imagery is used when the speaker says, “and be one traveler, long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth” (3-5). Here, the readers can visualize the speaker standing at a path analyzing what it has to offer. Imagery is also illustrated when the speaker chooses the other path “because it was grassy and wanted wear” (8). The path is personified to illustrate how the speaker is tempted to travel it instead. In this stanza, the speaker makes his or her decision and begins a new experience. In the next stanza, the paths are referenced again when the speaker says, “In leaves no step had trodden black” (12). This line paints a picture of two paths that have never been travelled by anyone else before the speaker. Through the use of imagery, the two roads are given illustration, and the readers can gain insight on how the reader comes to make his or her

Initially, the first significant thing about the poem comes from its title “The Road Not Taken”, which presumably refers to an unused option. In the first stanza, the speaker reaches a fork in the road while walking through the “yellow wood” (line 1) and wishes that he could travel both routes but knows it is impractical. The emphasis of uncertainty of which path to take suggests that the road is symbolic. The way the speaker compares and contemplates both paths with hesitation implies that the road is a metaphor for his life. In the first two stanzas, the tone is reflective, contemplative and indecisive as the speaker considers the two paths, “long I stood” (3). Although the speaker doesn’t tell us too much about himself, we know he is conflicted and facing a big

I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh

Frost’s use of imagery, is perhaps the strongest of all the poetic devices that he has weaved into the poem. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...and i'm sorry I could not travel both, long I stood...and looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth”(1-5), is the first of Frost’s use of imagery, which is evidently also the first stanza. I interpreted this in two ways, literally and figuratively. Literally, it is about a person, who is at the fork of a road and does not know which road to progress on. Figuratively, Frost is using the two roads to symbolize the different choices that could be made and how

The two roads represent an extended metaphor. When Frost writes “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both(lines 1&2),” he is not talking about a literal road. When the road splits, this represents the choices we have in life and the important decisions we have to make. You have to decide which road to travel, similarly to when you have to make a decision on which choice you are going to make. In addition, In Line 6, the speaker in the poem “took the other , as just as fair.” This is a metaphor for thinking about all options before making a decision, and not just going with the flow. The speaker doesn’t choose the more often lay used road even though it seems like everyone else did. People must think about the consequences for each decision and really lay out all possible options before finally coming to a decision. Transition, Autumn and the woods are used as a metaphor. At the beginning of the poem, the woods are yellow. This represents the beginning of fall.(line 1) Fall represents growing older. As a person ages, they are faced with making many decisions. These choices symbolize coming of age, and are a metaphor for the decisions of

The poem begins with a literal fork in the road. Almost automatically Frost allows us to picture ourselves as the subject of the poem. His vivid imagery describes how the road looks with the leaves turning colors during the fall season “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” () we are transported into the poem. Due to the beauty of both paths the speaker wants to travel both roads but he understands that is not possible. The man in the poem does not want to stay a long time in the middle of the two roads so he knows he has to make a choice soon. He begins to examine the roads closely and one seems like the better option but he chooses the other one despite peering onto the path of the seemingly better choice .

Frost shows the readers that it is hard to choose something without knowing what will be the result, thus he wants to try both of the options to decide on something, when he says “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both”. Whole poem is constructed of this metaphor, and every line refers to something in life. In the last part where Frost says, “I took the one less traveled by” he implies the idea that people wish to be different from others, thus they are prone to choose the option which had not been chosen by many other people. Instead of saying that he was having hard time deciding on a thing to do, Frost chose to use the metaphor of a road, which forced the readers to use their imagination to understand the real meaning behind what he