"The Road Not Taken" captured my attention because I was able to relate to the literary work in a personal way. The poem contains a metaphor in which an individual has to make a decision between two important choices. This touched me because it reminded me of the time when I came to this country and I faced a situation where I had to choose between two important things. Let me explain, one of the reasons that I came to the United States was to help my family financially. Since I did not speak English, I was only able to get a job that paid minimum wage. I was very frustrated because I needed more money than what I was getting paid each week. The situation got worse when one of my relatives got very sick. Everything came down to two choices. I could continue my venture in this country or I could go back to my home country, Peru. In "The Road Not Taken," Frost underscores these powerful moments in our lives. It speaks of situations when life encourages, changes, or improves us. There were…
Frost uses the images presented in the poem in a very involved and general way. The paths and the fork no longer refer to their definitions, but instead as keywords in a description of life. Through the poem, Frost is defining life as a series of decisions. Some of these decisions may, at the time, be thought of as insignificant, while others could be thought of as very significant. Frost argues that a decision's significance at the time is not really important, for any choice will change one's life. Every day, people, including the narrator of the poem, are presented with "Two roads" that diverge "in a yellow wood." These roads are not concrete or physical, but rather represent choices. The fact that one road is "grassy and wanted wear" while the other was commonly traversed shows the reader that some choices require one to choose something that is not commonly sought or to do something…
“The Road Not Taken” can be affiliated with many real life situations. “And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost 2). This line simply states that it is not possible for someone to travel two roads at once. But Frost is not on a road, nor is he in a vehicle. He is walking down a path that suddenly brings him to two simple choices; take the path on the left or take the path on the right. “And be one traveler, long I stood/And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth” (Frost 3-5). Frost says he is standing alone, meaning he is on foot and not on a paved road because typically there is no undergrowth on a paved road. He has to either make a choice between the two paths or turn around and go back…
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…
Frost first introduces the primary symbol of the poem in the first line; “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both.” If interpreted literally the poem is that of a man at a separation of paths in a yellow wood. The symbolism in the poem, however, involves the use of both roads as symbols of the choices made in the speaker’s life and the consequences of making those choices. In addition to the two roads symbolizing a crossing in the speaker’s life, there is a sense of regret in the speaker’s words. “And sorry I could not travel both.” Even though the speaker after much examination of both paths eventually makes a decision about which path he will choose to take, he also establishes that the decision, whether made irrationally or thought long and hard about, will change the speaker’s life in unpredictable ways. Without this symbolism represented by the fork in the road, this poem would have no choice but to be taken literally and would lose the recondite meaning behind the two paths diverged in a yellow…
A visual that the fork represents a decision that must be made where each road leads to different destinations. A handful of lines provide metaphors that would support this, but it is the ones in the final two stanzas that really relay the message. The narrator says, “Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back” (Frost, p.689). The audience can see that there is a dilemma that is faced where these roads will probably lead in a direction where the narrator cannot return. The poem concludes with the statement, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference” (Frost, p.689). One can only conclude from these words that the decision to take one road rather than the other, has “made all the difference” (Frost,…
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.…
The use of Frost’s imagery can be first found in the title, “The Road Not Taken.” The title introduces its main use of symbolism with roads. The figurative use of roads throughout the poem is a metaphor for making decisions and the paths taken every day throughout life. Frost introduces the…
I believe the metaphorical references within this poem are what path of life should I take, should I take the same path that others follow or create my own destiny? The way Frost describes the two roads you (as the reader) would think to take the road that “was grassy and wanted wear” (pg. 550).…
"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…
Frost finally chooses a road which was the one least worn, and he then he says “I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence.”(Line 16). Normally people do not talk about the path they chose for a walk as a grand story so this hints at the reader that the poem should be taken more as an extended metaphor rather than to be taken literally. This journey clearly had affected Frost because he acts like this decision affected him greatly in his life. This road might symbolize the journey of life and the choice between the roads can symbolize a major point in Frost’s life that made him choose to do something that other people did or to do something he wanted to do. Robert Frost learned that he didn’t have to do what other people did so that he could feel happy and this helped him along his journey of…
People can relate to being placed in various situations where they must also make a final decision. Frost poem opens in line 1 with "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" giving the reader a mental image of two pathways splitting in different directions. This symbolizes the moment where a person is faced with two choices and only having the ability to pick one. For example, a high school graduate may have to decide which college to attend, understanding that there are pros and cons to both colleges and a final decision has to be made. In addition, the speaker describes each path, one being "Grassy and wanted wear" (line 9) and another being "Bent in the undergrowth" (line 5).…
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a poem with an obvious literal meaning. A man comes to a fork in the road and has to make a decision on which way to go to continue his journey. After a lot of thought, the traveler chooses the road “less traveled by.” I interpreted this to mean that he took the more complex path or journey and avoided the simpler road. My thesis sentence for this poem would be “ In life all people are faced with choices, some more complex then others. Many choose the easy way out, while others choose the…
In the previous verses Frost explains in narrative one road to be the road that the traveler like stated earlier can be assumed to be Frost himself, to be road he will choose. However, that is not the case in that we find that the lyric has changed. Bringing confrontation with the other road to be explained as “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”. Frost emotions have changed when he gazed upon the second road. This is what brought the irony of the poem and also shows good use of nominally poetry. Meaning the sectioning a poem to where it was written, putting the poem “The Road Not Taken” into that category. I believe the second verse of the poem grabs the attention of the reader, Frost changing the tone of the poem showing dilemma the traveler faces. This also brings the curiosity of the reader and brings them to make decision themselves of which path they would choose and would the traveler choose the same…
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.…