Preview

Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
725 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken
One of Robert Frost’s well known and most favored poem of all times is “The Road Not Taken.” The poem is fabricated of four stanzas which is made up of five lines each, and each line possess between eight and ten syllables in a approximately verse line pattern. The flow of the lines in each stanza range in an abaab tempo. The poem is so popular and familiar because the symbols of the poem is simple and easy to understand. The spokesman of the poem has the obligation to choose between two separate footpaths in a wood. The speaker sees that alternative as a figure of speech for selecting between diverge routes in his life. Nevertheless, for a poem that appears to be simple, it has been characterized to exceedingly variation of explanations of how the speaker perceives the state he’s in and how a person is suppose to view the speaker as a reader.
While strolling on an harvest day in a wood where the leaves have altered to yellow, the speaker is obligated to pick between two paths that head in different directions, in the first stanza of the poem. In the second line in the first stanza the speaker said, “And sorry I could not travel both;” He felt disappointed that he wasn’t able to travel both
…show more content…
For example, as the speaker tells the story he said, “I shall be telling this with a sigh;” which could be seen as a sign of expressing sadness and remorse. Furthermore, the title of the poem itself is an indication that the spokesman will have remorse that he didn’t get a chance to go back and travel the alternate footpath. The poem is titled “The Road Not Taken,”it is an implication that the speaker will always be thinking about the pathway he didn’t take. He will wonder what would have happened if he had followed the other path; if things would have turned to benefit him if he had walked down the other

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost gives his readers a speaker standing at a “fork” in the road- or having to make a decision. Robert Frost uses extended metaphor, irony, and an unreliable narrator to show his reader’s that, when choosing life courses, one must consider where the path is actually going verses from how it may appear. Decisions fill the lives of human beings, and this speaker faces the remorse he holds for the decisions he’s made.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Beach Burial Slessor

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a first person narrative tale of a monumental moment in the author’s life. He is faced between the choice of a moment and a lifetime manifested in his poem. Walking down a rural road the narrator encounters a point on his travel that diverges into two separate similar paths. In Robert Frost’s poem "The Road Not Taken", Frost presents the idea of man facing the difficult unalterable choice of a lifetime. This idea in Frost’s poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the speaker’s decision to select the road not taken.…

    • 1457 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap English Speech Essay

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This is evident in The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost where a metaphor of a road is used assiduously throughout this poem to establish the way of life the persona has traveled. Colour imagery through “yellow wood” establishes not only a physical change i.e. change in season, but also a change in the realm of the mind. The persona’s justification of choice is evident through the simile “then took the other, as just as fair” This decision is then contemplated, where the imagination explores the consequences of some choices. Have you ever looked back and felt some regret? The line “I shall be telling this with a sigh” depicts this reflection and possible regret by use of emotive language. The value of this reflection process through the imaginative journey is clear in the last line “and this has made all the…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘The Road Not Taken’ seems to express regret for a path that the persona in the poem ‘could not travel’. The poem has a kind of haunting wistfulness about the transience of time and a sober tone of fatalism is very apparent. The indecisive and contemplative language of the persona of ‘the road’, who tells his story ‘with a sigh’, is ‘sorry’ about his choice in life and expresses regret, and the tone of fatalism is powerfully conveyed through the final stanza. Here, the shocking switch to present tense and the enjambment of the two I’s arrests the rhythm and reflects upon the possibilities of self that could have been. ‘A Leaf-Treader’ also has a tone of wistfulness but an even stronger tone of frustration. The long lines and full rhymes seem to express a sense of weariness with the whole business of collecting leaves, with the repetition of the word ‘treading’ highlighting the monotony of his task. Compounds like ‘autumn-tired’ with their attenuated rhythm, also seem to express a sense of anger at the way things are and the strong language of ‘God knows’ is significant in the persona’s call for for justification of the need for repeated effort in life. There is a paradoxical fear from the persona about the drive to mast his job but also the limitless nature of his task.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The speaker of the poem “The Road Not Taken” either takes the road less traveled by or takes the normal trail. I believe that the author of the poem “The Road Not Taken” chose the trail less traveled by. In the text, “It was grassy and wanted wear”. This shows that the speaker of the poem chose the path less traveled by. There is a chance that the speaker of the poem will…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In The Road Not Taken, I feel like Robert Frost is trying to play with each individual reader a little. By naming this poem The Road Not Taken I think it is a metaphor for our everyday lives, the choices we decide to make and not make every day. (Clugston, 2010) “Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,” In this poem Frost describes two roads and they both describe change and transformation. Both roads are appealing to him in different ways, which makes the decision a hard one to make. This poem caught my attention immediately because it can be a universal poem, and no matter who reads it, anyone can relate to it. This is the reason why he cannot just walk down any road without thinking about this life changing decision. He is not by any means unsatisfied with how his life turned out he just often wonders “what if?”, as in the other road could have meant more possibilities, a better choice and even more rewarding for him in the end. A few themes that I noticed in this poem are regret, sorrow and remorse. The word ‘sorry’ and ‘sigh’ are mentioned throughout this poem and these words give it a somewhat gloomy feeling. After I had finished reading this poem I was actually dwelling on the road he did take, but then I came to realize that this is more about the road he did…

    • 1262 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem “The Road Not Taken” describes the narrator coming to a fork in the road and having to decide which way to go. The narrator regrets that he or she can’t travel both ways and comes to the realization that a choice must be made. A decision is made to take the road less traveled because “it was grassy and wanted wear;” but observes that “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same,” (“Road” 8-10). In reality, both ways were equally worn, but the narrator thought that one was less traveled. This suggests that the decision to take the grassy path was influenced entirely by the narrator’s inner qualities.…

    • 176 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Road Not Taken Outline

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a poem that symbolizes literal and metaphorical forks in the road, to which decisions that are made can have a drastic impact on an individuals life. It centers around the topic of choices. The narrator takes us through a once difficult decision that he is faced with and how he looks back on it afterward.…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Compare and Contrast Paper

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Road Not Taken gives the reader the opportunity to look at two paths that are presented before a traveler. Each one very different from the other. It symbolizes the choices that we have to make because there is always an easier way to take, but is it worth it? The author does a great job in making both seem appealing. Line two of the poem says, “And Sorry I could not travel both,” (Frost p. 555) meaning that the decision that is made is final, there is no turning back. The traveler is faced with a conflict where he must decided which path to take.…

    • 1409 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    "The Road Not Taken" concentrates on the narrator's decision between the conformist and non-conformist paths of life. Line 18 and 19 of this poem says, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference."(Frost…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Journeys- Robert Frost

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Frost's poem, “The Road Not Taken,” is an extended metaphor for lost possibilities or missed opportunities. The persona reflects upon the impacts of a decision and, perchance, what may have been. This is evident in, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence.” Thus, the responder can conceive the persona is dubious as to whether the right decision has been made.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Frost Tone

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Robert Frost wrote many magnificent works of poetry within his lifetime. Two of his poems that were written within seven years of each other, “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, have such remarkable comparisons within each other. Frost plays on many aspects within each, while still keeping consistency of themes such as life, nature, and the emotions of the narrator and how they affect their lives and choices. With the undertone of life being a key component, one speaks of a choice to make and how it can affect the life from that moment forward, the other hints at a life lived and reflection.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ is about the choices in life that affect where we will end up in the future. This is conveyed through the speakers dilemma of choosing a path in a diverged road. It talks of the speaker standing in the woods, considering which path to take as the road they are travelling on forks into two. One road has been trodden many times before, and the other is less travelled and more over-grown. The speaker chooses the less travelled road and says to themselves that they will take the other road one day, even though deep in their mind they know that it is unlikely that they ever will.…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay discusses the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. This poem describes a man who is walking in the woods. As he is walking, he finds that the path he is on splits into two roads. He is forced to decide which road to take in order to continue his journey. Throughout the rest of the poem, he describes the experience of his journey. Frost uses many poetic devices throughout this poem. He uses metaphor to describe the road as a part of life. He also uses rhyme scheme to show the important phrases and words to help the reader understand and comprehend the message behind the poem. Finally, Frost makes use of alliteration and similes to draw the reader closer to the text and compare his experience to other occurrences…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eng 125 Week 1 Assignment

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The poem “The road not taken” by Robert Frost outlines a scenario every human being on the planet has encountered. The images and emotions evoked are masterfully woven into the style that Frost used. Using the formalist approach this poem is easily stripped down to the intent of sharing a common decision making process with the readers. Robert Frost is able to skillfully use writing techniques to share a common experience of which road to take in life and create a poem that evokes those memories every time.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics