![]() The poem comes to an end with the speaker sighing and seems to be him reflecting on his decision. He decides to go with the second path and to save the first for another day but stops to think – knowing how our decisions effect our lives, he will not be able to go back to the first path. The first path is described as one that has been taken a lot and is worn whereas the second one looks grassy and wanted to be worn. He looks down one path as far as he can which is symbolic to when we look into the future and although we can see to a certain point, we cannot completely see what exactly lies ahead. The yellow in the woods is interpreted as a caution or as a yield to make the speaker think about his choices of the two paths. The poem starts off with the speaker, who seems to be on a walk in yellow colored woods has come to a part in the trail that has two paths. Themes include exploration, dreams, and realizing how our choices affect the outcome of our lives. Published in 1916, “The Road Not Taken” was the first poem published in Frost’s Mountain Interval, a book of poetry. “The Road Not Taken” is one of many classic poems written by Robert Frost. Like in Frost’s poem, I had two choices presented to me that had to be decided, challenges that arose, and an outcome that changed my life for the better. As well as allow readers to interpret the poem in their own way, whether it be a happy ending or a regretful ending. Frost’s poem allows readers to relate to the speaker with the concept of having to make choices throughout our lives. I am not trying to be pessimistic here but seeing all the other instances in the poem where Frost insinuates regret, he could as well be explaining the irony of individualism.“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” (Frost) The poem “The Road Not Taken,” written by Robert Frost, is similar to my own life where I had to make an important choice. ![]() However, our predisposition to the poem’s positive message leads us to assume it’s a good outcome. Something else that I found interesting is that Frost does not specify whether the difference made is good or bad. He starts as if to show how he will open the speech but stops midway and concludes with mentioning how the less traveled road has made all the difference. In fact, before concluding that he will be narrating this story with a sigh, he is still unsure of whether he will ever come back to take the other path he left for this one.įollowing that, the speaker begins to envision how he will be telling this story in ages and ages to come. Looking at the tone in the lines that precede and follow here, this sigh does not suggest relief. Just like the rest of the poem, Frost lets the reader interpret this sigh however they deem fit. While it is partly human nature to wonder about alternative options, the fact that Frost includes it in the poem more than once speaks volumes about the traveler’s regret for the road not taken.įurther down, the narrator speaks of how he shall be narrating this story with a sigh, somewhere in the future. It would be expected that if the road he chooses has brought all the positive change that’s always assumed as the poem ends, then Frost would have titled it close to that and not the alternative.Īnd even after the narrator has made his choice and began walking down one path, he plans to come back some day and take the other to see what he has missed. Interestingly, Frost decided to name this poem ‘The Road Not Taken’, which begs the question of which road carries more weight to the main character. ![]() Literary Analysis: Analyzing the Theme of Regret ![]() Now, without downplaying its ability to inspire through positive individualism, Frost also expresses regret for the road he did not choose and even paints it in broad strokes throughout the poem. So the speaker resorts to planning how they’ll tell this story in ages to come: how he chose the less preferred option that has made all the difference. As the narrator walks down, they plan to keep the other road for another day but doubts they’ll ever come back, given the nature of roads (read life) always leading to others. They look down upon one until they could see no further but chooses the other. In the woods, the narrator comes across two diverging roads. Summary: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost ![]()
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