The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
"The Road Not Taken" Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of the continuous journey of life. There is never a straight path that leaves someone with a single direction to head. Regardless of the message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem "The Road Not Taken", has left many interpretations for his readers. It is one's past, present, and his attitude with which he looks upon his future. In any case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost's belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is. It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible to wander what opportunity lies at the other end and what will be missed out on. The narrator and also the traveler exemplifies this by saying "And sorry I could not travel both", in line two of the poem. There is a strong sense of regret even before the choice of the path was chosen. This shows that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel every path which you are confrunted with. In an attempt to make a decision, ...
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is often misinterpreted. For many years to come, people are going to read this poem by Robert Frost and one of many things will happen. The reader will either misinterpret or misunderstand the poem itself, and its’ sense of irony does not help either.
Choices in life can be as simple as deciding where to go out to eat or what to wear and as difficult as deciding which college to enroll in and who to marry. The most strenuous part is not knowing if you made the right decision because even the simplest choices can shape the future. There are no guarantees in life so every decision counts. Second guessing is as natural to humans as breathing, which makes the decision making process that much harder because it is more than just picking something and sticking with it, there is always the curiosity of what if? Even when faced with the most difficult decisions one must live with the choices they have made, which is very similar to what the speaker of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is forced to deal with.
Everyone is a traveler, carefully choosing which roads to follow on the map of life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a single direction in which to head. Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken'; can be interpreted in many different ways. The shade of light in which the reader sees the poem depends upon her past, present, and the attitude with which she looks toward her future. In any case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man he is.
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. Notably, sorrow and regret is the tone of this poem, demonstrated in the very first stanza: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; (1-5) The poem takes place in autumn, when a traveler, who is narrating the poem, walks upon two paths in the yellow wood. The speaker says he is “sorry I could not travel both”, meaning that he feels sorrowful about not being able to take both roads.
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost shows the reader how the choices they make will be hard decisions and will follow them. The setting of this poem takes place in the woods, in the fall. The woods will typically be a quiet and serene place making the setting an ideal place for decision making. The setting also helps to show the symbolism that Frost shows by describing the two paths. Frost uses pathos when appealing to the reader’s feelings because any reader has had to make a decision in their life. Creating this symbol helps to relate to the reader. The Imagery that is created helps to make the reader feel as if they are standing in the snowy woods, looking down two paths, and trying to make the decision of which one to take. Frost used
The persona begins to think about how he cannot take both paths and be the same “traveler”
In “The Road Not Taken” Frost emphasizes that every person is a traveler choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey-life. There is never a straight path that leads a person one sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, “The Road Not Taken” has left me with many different interpretations. Throughout this poem, it is obvious that decisions are not easy to make and each decision will lead you down a different path.
In his celebrated poem "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost describes the decision one makes when reaching a fork in the road. Some interpret Frost as suggesting regret on the part of the traveler as to not choosing the path he forgoes, for in doing so he has lost something significant. Others believe he is grateful for the selection, as it has made him the man he is. The diverging roads are symbolic of the choices society is faced with every day of life. Choosing one course will lead the traveler in one direction, while the other will likely move away, toward a completely different journey. How does one know which is the right path; is there a right path? The answer lies within each individual upon reflection of personal choices during the course of life's unfolding, as well as the attitude in which one looks to the future.
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.
Choices are never easy, facing hundreds upon thousands of them in our lifetime, man has to make decisions based upon these choices. Some decisions are clear while others are sometimes not clear and more difficult to make. The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a prime example of these choices in life. This poem is a first person narrative that is seen by most people as being told by Frost. The poem opens up with the narrator encountering a point in the woods that has a trail diverge into two separate paths. In the poem Frost presents the idea of man facing the difficult predilection of a moment and a lifetime. I believe this idea in the poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the decision to select the road not taken.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler” (Page 756 Stanza 1). This is the beginning of an iambic tetrameter by Robert Frost in which he expresses the thoughts of the speaker as they come to a fork in the road. The speaker faces a dilemma of deciding which path to take. Frost uses a closed form with a rhyme scheme of “ABAAB.” The speaker reaching the fork in the road is symbolism for a particular decision that he must make in life. The first stanza is setting up the situation in which the speaker must observe both choices and make a decision and stick with it. This poem allows the reader to use their imagination and is also relatable in everyone’s everyday lives. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses a good rhyme scheme, description, and symbolism to describe an important life decision as well as show the thoughts of the speaker as he makes this decision.
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.
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.
The speaker, throughout Robert Frost?s ?The Road Not Taken,? is a way of identifying with the reader through basic human feelings and struggles. Everyone faces hard decisions and feels the struggle within to choose the right path on which to base his or her life. It is how we choose and how we deal with what is down the road that makes us who we are.
Perhaps one of the most well-known poems in modern America is a work by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. This poem consists of four stanzas that depict the story of the narrator traveling through the woods early in the morning and coming upon a fork in the path, where he milled about for a while before deciding upon one of the two paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing otherwise, seeing himself telling of this experience in the future.