Robert Frost Diction

Robert Frost, an exceedingly known and famous American poet of the 20th century, is often quoted in day-to-day life and recognized for his creative state of mind. Of all his poetic elements, Frost's style seems to be the hardest to pin down. Certainly, essential elements of Frost's style is his choice of words or diction, his use of everyday words that are used in conversation, and the way he writes his sentences with rhythm to enhance their beauty. In addition, he also uses many poetic devices adding to the craftsmanship of his poems. Due to his unique style of writing, one of his illustrious poems, “The Road Not Taken”, is often misinterpreted or misused. The title alone catches the reader’s attention, but it, too, is often misinterpreted.

In doing so, this helps the reader better understand the connection between the poem and the title. For decades now, people have used the last lines of “The Road Not Taken” as their anthem of independence, uniqueness, and taking rare roads that others do not take. Truth be told, though, that is not what the poem is about at all. In fact, it is quite the opposite. And this poem, when read in its entirety, is far more complex and intriguing when it is understood. Therefore, the title of this poem may be the key to its true interpretation. The title is not, as it is often mistaken to be, "The Road Less Traveled", but is "The Road Not Taken". If the title were "The Road Less Traveled", the poem would have a stranger focus on nonconformity, or taking the path that others do not take. But the title, "The Road Not Taken" connects the poem to its title by lost opportunities, or more directly, the road that the speaker did not

Indeed, the title of the poem hovers over the theme like a ghost: “The Road Not Taken.” According to the title, this poem is about absence. It is about what the poem never mentions: the choice the speaker did not make, which seems to still haunt him. The speaker claims that his decision has made “all the difference”, but the word difference itself conveys no sense of whether this choice made the speaker’s life better or worse. Perhaps, he could be envisioning an alternate version of life, one full of the imagined pleasures the other road would have offered. With this being said, knowing the suggestion that the title makes about the theme of absence, the reader can easily connect the poem to its