Poetry Analysis: The Road Not Taken, By Robert Frost

Lastly, a sigh might just be a sigh to some, but in this piece it means much more to Frost. Frost’s 1916 poem "The Road Not Taken" is an example of how Frost writes poetry enthralling the reader with a grand opening and an unexpected ending that must be thoroughly analyzed. Frost wrote "The Road Not Taken" while living in Gloucestershire, England in 1914 though he was an American citizen. His friend Edward Thomas and he would often go on walks so that Thomas could show him special plants or sights. When Thomas would choose a path, it was certain that every time he would regret the choice he had made sighing that they should have taken a "better" direction (Banerjee and Shefali 1).

Frost does this because he feels as though he has lost his sense of identity. Benighted literally means to be overtaken by darkness. So by describing the snow as benighted, Frost way of arches back to the idea that snow symbolizes darkness and its suffocation of the land and of himself. In the fourth stanza the speaker uses third person pronouns to personify his fears. However “they” do not scare him with “their” empty spaces.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” shows that he had a choice about what direction to take in life, or a decision to make. This gives a deeper meaning to Frost’s poetry so that ... ... middle of paper ... ...ravelled by.” Whereas ‘Stopping By Woods’ represents a pause in a journey, or wanting to succumb to darkness or even death, to lay down in the “downy” snow and sleep/die, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep/And miles to go before I sleep,” but knowing that he can’t, “He will not see me stopping here/To watch his woods fill up with snow/But I have promises to keep.” Though contrasting these are still important concerns of Frost’s, the different season shows the difference between decisions, how they are made, and what keeps people moving forward, and the significance of taking these journeys. These poems both have many different and interesting messages for readers. Frost expertly uses many different techniques including ironic tone, rhyming stanzas, repetition and metaphors which help him communicate him main concerns about time passing, life, death and decisions.

George uses different pieces of literature from a variety of authors to bring people in perspective of what is being said in the poem. What George thinks is the major key in figuring out the meaning is by us as readers paying close attention to the three distinct ages that the speaker faces in the poem. Many authors have gave people hints telling them that the poem is a very tricky poem yet people still go with their instincts that have been glued into their brains about “choosing the road less traveled” (Frost). The way George is taking the poem is that there is the speaker which is a middle aged man, the younger self in the beginning of the poem and the older self towards the end of the poem. As the poem goes on the whole time it is talking about sorrows, claims, and choices during the three phases of life to make the person he is today.

In Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” there are many complexities that ultimately lead to the poem’s unity. At first glance this poem seems to be a very typical coming of age poem where the speaker has come to a major fork in the road and he must decide which path to take. At first glance this would be a very good statement to make; however, as the reader digs deeper and searches for the complexity and the nuances of the poem the original assessment seems to be shallow and underdeveloped. In order to truly appreciate this poem as a work of art, the reader must search for the unity and complexity within it, otherwise this poetic work of art will go by unnoticed and cast off as a coming of age poem and nothing else. There is a very straight forward structure to this poem that contributes to the complexity and unity of the poem as a whole.

Another, more likely interpretation, is that of choices. Though Frost previously said that he was irritated by individuals “pressing it for more than it should be pressed for. It means enough without its being pressed…” (Cady) it can easily be argued that this poem is not as literal in meaning as a physical journey through the woods but one that is more symbolic in questioning the choice that the narrator makes. Frost is able to create indistinct meanings to this poem by syntax, rhythm, wordplay, and imagery. He follows a central theme for the majority of the poem and ends with a paradoxical phrase at the end that simply states “But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost 191).

William brilliantly distinguishes the traveler from the beginning of the poem, which he believes is at the second stage of life, from the first and third stages, stating that the traveler in the beginning teases the other two by standing by his decision. The traveler i... ... middle of paper ... ...l make are however in the prospect.” Grimes later goes on and states in her article that the speaker could not offer such information at the time, because he has not lived the difference yet to know if it were good or bad. In conclusion, ‘The Road Not Taken” is a poem full of hard choices. Two paths in life that seems to be identical to one another that contain little differences that led to two totally different outcomes. This poem even moves deeply to reveal something on the selfishness and curiosity which dwells in the nature of human being.

Robert Frost's Use of Nature in Poetry Robert Frost, an American poet of the late 19th century, used nature in many of his writings. Frost was very observant of nature, he often used it to represent the emotion of his characters in his poetry. I will use "West-Running Brook" and "Once by the Pacific" to demonstrate Frost's use of nature in his writings. Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 in San Francisco ("American Writers" 150). In 1885, the dying request of his father took Frost back to Massachusetts for the burial.

The diction is descriptive and illustrates the disparities and the images of the two roads. The storyteller has to make a choice between two roads, he considers the pros and cons of each one of them, regretting the fact that he cannot travel both of them simultaneously. In the end, he decides that the second one may be better because it’s been only taken by a few. Nonetheless, the narrator explains that he will recall this cherished incident in the future, and states that the decision he made will have a huge impact on his life. After reading the poem, the reader is confronted with the choice of either conforming to society or defying it like Frost did by taking a less stable profession.

But, when we look at the first stanza, everything changes. Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow. Like the woods it describes the poem, dark depth of interpretation. We have to dig it in to interpret the possible meanings.