Explore the Themes of Robert Frost's Poetry in the Road Not Taken. Essay Example
Explore the themes of Robert Frost’s poetry in The Road Not Taken
Robert Frost was an American poet from New England; he is highly regarded for his realistic representations of rural life and his colloquial speech. The poem The Road Not Taken is a narrative poem which was published in 1916 by Frost. The speaker stands in the woods contemplating a fork in the road. Both paths are identically worn and overlaid with un-trodden leaves. After contemplating for a while the speaker chooses a path whilst reassuring himself that he will take the other path another day, yet he knows it is extremely doubtful that he will have the opportunity. He states in the last stanza that he took the less-travelled road “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by” (18-19). The Road Not Taken simply symbolizes the incessant curiosity that resides within human nature. This poem is one of Frost’s most popular works as it is among the best known and often the most misunderstood, even though the themes of his poems are all very similar. The majority of the world’s human population would be able to relate to this poem as it is generally about making difficult decisions. One of the major themes in the poem is an archetypal dilemma, one that we instantaneously identify because many of us encounter it numerous times, literally and figuratively. This theme is choice. Paths in the woods and forks in the roads are ancient metaphors for the lifeline, its crises and choices. In this case, identical forks symbolize free will and fate as we are free to choose, however, we do not know beforehand what we are choosing between “Had worn them really about the same…” (10). Frost focussed on this poem and made it much more complicated as there is no less-travelled road, it’s not an option. Whichever choice is taken in life, one will always wonder what possibilities the other choice had to offer, in which we have missed. The Road Not Taken is aimed at the concept of choice and
Robert Frost was an American poet from New England; he is highly regarded for his realistic representations of rural life and his colloquial speech. The poem The Road Not Taken is a narrative poem which was published in 1916 by Frost. The speaker stands in the woods contemplating a fork in the road. Both paths are identically worn and overlaid with un-trodden leaves. After contemplating for a while the speaker chooses a path whilst reassuring himself that he will take the other path another day, yet he knows it is extremely doubtful that he will have the opportunity. He states in the last stanza that he took the less-travelled road “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by” (18-19). The Road Not Taken simply symbolizes the incessant curiosity that resides within human nature. This poem is one of Frost’s most popular works as it is among the best known and often the most misunderstood, even though the themes of his poems are all very similar. The majority of the world’s human population would be able to relate to this poem as it is generally about making difficult decisions. One of the major themes in the poem is an archetypal dilemma, one that we instantaneously identify because many of us encounter it numerous times, literally and figuratively. This theme is choice. Paths in the woods and forks in the roads are ancient metaphors for the lifeline, its crises and choices. In this case, identical forks symbolize free will and fate as we are free to choose, however, we do not know beforehand what we are choosing between “Had worn them really about the same…” (10). Frost focussed on this poem and made it much more complicated as there is no less-travelled road, it’s not an option. Whichever choice is taken in life, one will always wonder what possibilities the other choice had to offer, in which we have missed. The Road Not Taken is aimed at the concept of choice and