Road Not Taken Rhyme Scheme

1640 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Literal meaning of the road not taken

Robert Frost wrote for the reader to ponder about small choices made and the impact that these choices have later on in life. Written by Robert Frost, the narrative poem “The Road Not Taken” explores the topic of choices. Beginning with a traveler coming upon a fork in a road, the speaker and attempts to decide which path to take. At the end of the poem, after the reader uncovers the truth that the speaker is actually deciding what choice to make. At the end of the poem the speaker explains that the choice that they made after coming upon the fork in the road has made all the difference in the speaker’s life. In this four stanza poem containing each containing five lines (rhymes included are end, true, slant, and masculine and the stanzas follow the rhyme scheme of ABAAB), Frost uses metaphors, symbolism, imagery, and other poetic devices to convey the theme of the importance of choices..
In the first stanza, the speaker stumbles to find a fork in the road introduced with the line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1). “Yellow wood” in this first line reveals that it is autumn, as leaves turn yellow in the fall. The two words “roads” and “yellow” form assonance, giving the start of the poem a subtle tone. …show more content…

Choices in life are crucial as they build up on one another. When the speaker is first making a decision about which road to travel on, he acknowledges that choices at a current time may seem intelligent, but in reality that “intelligent” choice actually may not be smart. As long as humans need to make choices, monumental or minute, Frost’s poem will stay alive and a must read. The reason that this poem has stayed alive for more than one hundred years is because people understand now that the choices made today can affect the rest of an individual’s

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    The poem is set in the fall when the leaves are changing colors and beginning to cover the ground. The speaker of the poem is faced with an unfamiliar fork in the road and is forced to decide which direction he or she must go. As the speaker is deliberating, he is “sorry” he cannot just travel both and it appears to be because the speaker has a fear of picking the wrong one (Frost 2). Although he “looked down one as far as I could” there was no seeing the end (4). Just like in a life, it is possible to have an idea of what will happen and there is no telling which choices will turn out beneficial and which will not. The speaker knows that although the paths are similar the outcome of picking the wrong one could be life changing. Even though he is upset he must trust in himself to know which one would be best for him in the long run.

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken Metaphors

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    Frost relays the message of life choices through direct symbolism, great use of imagery, and an influential paradox. The symbolism portrayed in Frost’s poem emphasizes the importance of life choices and decision making. With every decision in life, there is always

    Read More

  • Robert Frost-The road not taken

    617 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life has many roads you can take and it’s which ones you choose to follow that will shape your future forever. That is what I always take from this great Frost poem. He sees two roads both being equally appealing, but selects the one less traveled and how it makes his life unique. This poem is one of few that I do care for myself. It shows a man whose come to a point in his life where he has to decide what he will do with it. This is a point in our lives that everyone will come to and a somewhat difficult challenge for many. We have the many options ahead of us and must try and look ahead to what will come to decide our future. “And be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could.” I think this was a time in Frost’s life when he had just moved to London and was looking back at the choices he had made. He quit trying the Derry farm and sold it and moved to London to write. This was an awfully risky thing to do at this point with a wife and kids, but it shows his approval in retrospect. “Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear.” This shows that he choose a path that many choose to not to. He selected a harder path in life that could have been a devastating mistake given his situation in life.

    Read More

  • Explication Of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    Decisions are an everyday part of life. Although many decisions made throughout the day may not be crucial to our path of life, most every decision will affect life in some way. Pop tart or bagel, milk or orange juice, as well as drive or take the bus are all choices people make to begin their day, but Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a perfect example of a life altering decision. Frost wrote this poem when his dear friend, Edward Thomas, was stuck between staying with Frost and becoming a poet, or going to war against Germany in World War I. “Two Roads”, later changed to “The Road Not Taken”, angered Thomas, and caused him to enlist in the war, only to be killed in action two months later at Arras on Easter Day. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost has a literal meaning from the speaker, or traveler, of the road he did not take, but the deeper meaning certainly shows how decisions alter your life.

    Read More

  • Making Decisions In The Road Not Taken by Frost

    464 Words  | 1 Pages

    In this poem, Frost illustrates that every person has his own opinion. He states “Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim” (line 6-7). What make it better was “it was grassy and wanted wear” (line 8). It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seems that the other people take the more popular one. “And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black” (line 11). No one had yet to pass by on this road since the leaves have fallen. “I kept the first for another day” (line 13). The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but “knowing how way leads onto way” (line 14). The speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one, and he “doubted if I should ever come back”

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of The Road Not Taken

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his poem “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost discusses the theme of choice. The speaker of the poem finds himself standing in front of two roads diverging in a wood. He is in the process of decision-making for quite a while until he finally takes one of the roads. Now, he spends his time thinking over the choice he made and how he will relate to this choice in the future. To effectively convey the uncertainty of decision-making, Frost develops ambiguity and uses nature imagery in the poem.

    Read More

  • The Other Road in Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

    1660 Words  | 4 Pages

    David Wyatt writes, "Nowhere in Frost is the tension between surprise and anticipation, wayward experience and the form into which it is cast or forecast, more acute than in 'The Road Not Taken'" (129). As the poem is read, one cannot help but be pulled into the questions of which road will be chosen, how they differ, and what will become of the traveler. Perhaps some hope to find guidance for their own journeys by seeking answers in Frost's work. According to Michael Meyer, "The speaker's reflections about his choice are as central to an understanding of the poem as the choice itself." (97) Frost himself admits, "it's a tricky poem, very tricky." (Pack 10)

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken and the Journey of Life

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem by Robert Frost was first read to me in the last year of my high school experience.  Back then, not only did I have absolutely no interest in any literary work, but moreover, had no intension to lye there and analyze a poem into its symbolic definitions.  Only now have I been taught the proper way to read a literary work as a formalistic critic might read.  With this new approach to literature I can understand the underlying meaning to Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken".  In addition to merely grasping the author's intension, I was able to justly incur that this poem, without directly mentioning anything about life's decisions, is in its entirety about just that.

    Read More

  • Metaphors in The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    The two roads in the poem relate to various paths one might be faced with in life. One path “bent in the undergrowth” (5) which means it had taken many times. However, the other path “was grassy and wanted wear” (8). This is the path in one’s life, which seems “unpopular” at the time. Not many people choose the path that is not typically chosen by others. This is what Frost is doing in his poem as he uses these solid metaphors: challenging his readers to “go against the flow” as the man did.

    Read More

  • Comparing Fire and Ice, and The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    Some people go through their lives without reflecting about how their decisions have shaped them as a person. The poems “Fire and Ice” and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost both use the importance of decision making and its effects on the way we live to highlight how our path through life is defined by our choices. At the same time, Frost uses the extreme opposites in “Fire and Ice” and the similarities of the choices in “The Road Not Taken” to explore human nature and permanence of decisions.

    Read More

  • Life Choices in Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” provide us contrasting and sometimes similar glimpses of life. “The Road Not Taken” is about taking control and living life. “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” entails the desire for rest, perhaps due to the speaker’s feelings of weariness from facing life’s struggles. The poet also explains the tough choices people stand before when traveling the road of life. Sometimes people regret the possibilities of the road not chosen, sometimes people feel proud about the road they have chosen.

    Read More

  • The Road Not Taken

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is never a straight path for one to follow on life's journey. By using two paths in which to choose from, Frost leaves one to realize that everyone must travel and will reach a point of decision. With stating 'And sorry I could not travel both,'; Frost

    Read More

  • Imagery in The Road Not Taken

    649 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.

    Read More

  • Elements In "The Road Not Taken"

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, author Robert Frost uses the simple image of a road to represent a person’s journey through life. A well-established poet, Frost does a proficient job of transforming a seemingly common road to one of great importance, which along the way helps one identify who they really are. This poem is one of self-discovery. Frost incorporates strong elements of poetry such as theme, symbolism, rhyme scheme, diction, imagery, and tone to help create one of his most well known pieces about the human experience.

    Read More

  • Life Choices In The Road Not Taken

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many choices that one needs to make on a daily basis to simply get through the day. Life choices however are more important and have an everlasting effect on the individual. They are less frequent but have more of an impact on one’s life. The writer Robert Frost chose to use the poem “The Road not Taken” to show how one’s decisions can change the outcome of your life. Frost used the details of picking the road, the inability to reverse his choice, the consequences of his judgment, along with the external factors that influenced his judgments to express to the readers how life’s decisions make a difference all by writing a poem.

    Read More

More about Road Not Taken Rhyme Scheme

Open Document