The Road Not Taken
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;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Collection of Poem Analysis from website:
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Type of Work and Year of Publication.......
"The Road Not Taken" is a lyric poem with four stanzas of five lines each. (A lyric poem presents the feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story or presenting a witty observation.) The language is simple enough for a child to read, but the meaning is complex enough to foster scholarly debates and long essays. Henry Holt and Company published the poem in 1916 in a collection entitled Mountain Interval, Frost's first book printed in the United States. He had previously published two books in England.Setting and Background Information
Frost sets the poem on a forest road on an autumn morning. He received inspiration for the poem from the landscape in rural Gloucestershire, England. While living in Great Britain from 1912 to 1915, Frost and his family had rented a cottage, Little Iddens, near Dymock,
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.The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
With Stanza Summaries and Endnotes1
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;1Summary, Stanza 1
On the road of life, the speaker arrives at a point where he must decide which of two equally appealing (or equally intimidating) choices is the better one. He examines one choice as best he can, but the future prevents him from seeing where it leads.
2
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,2
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;3
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
Summary, Stanza 2
The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn.
3
And both that morning equally lay,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Summary, Stanza 3
Leaves cover both roads equally. No one on this morning has yet taken either road, for the leaves lie undisturbed. The speaker remains committed to his decision to take the road he had previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes, however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an opportunity to take the other road.
4
I shall be telling this with a sigh4
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Summary, Stanza 4
In years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant impact on his life.
Notes
1.
.The road beyond the bend may represent the future or the unknown, neither of which can be perceived.
2..Here, Frost uses personification, saying that the road has a claim.
3..Personification occurs here also if wanted means desired. No personification occurs, however, if wanted means lacked.
4..Sigh can indicate relief or happiness, or it can indicate regret or sorrow. The interpretation of its meaning is up to the reader.
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;
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Collection of Poem Analysis from website:
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The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost With Stanza Summaries and Endnotes 1 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 Summary, Stanza 1 On the road of life, the speaker arrives at a point where he must decide which of two equally appealing (or equally intimidating) choices is the better one. He examines one choice as best he can, but the future prevents him from seeing where it leads.
Summary, Stanza 2 The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn.
Summary, Stanza 3 Leaves cover both roads equally. No one on this morning has yet taken either road, for the leaves lie undisturbed. The speaker remains committed to his decision to take the road he had previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes, however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an opportunity to take the other road.
Summary, Stanza 4 In years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant impact on his life. Notes 1. .The road beyond the bend may represent the future or the unknown, neither of which can be perceived.2..Here, Frost uses personification, saying that the road has a claim. 3..Personification occurs here also if wanted means desired. No personification occurs, however, if wanted means lacked. 4..Sigh can indicate relief or happiness, or it can indicate regret or sorrow. The interpretation of its meaning is up to the reader. |
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The rhyme scheme of the poem is as follows: (1) abaab, (2) cdccd, (3) efeef, (4) ghggh. .......
.....All of the end rhymes are masculine—that is, each consists of a single syllable. (You may have noticed that the last word of the poem, difference, has more than one syllable. However, only the last syllable completes the rhyme with hence in line 22. Therefore, masculine rhyme occurs.)
....... Commitment ....... Accepting a Challenge .......
ThemesThe speaker chooses to go his own way, taking the "road less traveled" (line 19).
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Robert Frost (1874-1963) was born in San Francisco, California, where he spent his childhood. In 1885, after his father died of tuberculosis, the Frosts moved to Massachusetts. There, Robert graduated from high school, sharing top honors with a student he would later marry, Elinor White.
.......Frost attended Dartmouth and Harvard, married Miss White in 1895, worked farms, and taught school. In his spare time, he wrote poetry. Disappointed with the scant attention his poems received, he moved with his wife to Great Britain to present his work to readers there. Publishers liked his work and printed his first book of poems, A Boy’s Will, in 1913, and a second poetry collection, North of Boston, in 1914. The latter book was published in the United States in 1915.
.......Having established his reputation, Frost returned to the United States in 1915 and bought a small farm in Franconia, N.H. To supplement his income from the farm and his poetry, he taught at universities. Between 1916 and 1923, he published two more books of poetry—the second one, New Hampshire, winning the 1923 Pulitzer Prize. He went on to win three more Pulitzer Prizes and was invited to recite his poem "The Gift Outright" at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in January 1961. Frost died in Boston two years later. One may regard him as among the greatest poets of his generation.
http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/RoadNot.html
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Literal meaning of "The Road Not Taken"
There are these two roads. They split. (One goes one way, the other goes a different way.) This happens in a yellow wood, ie, it is autmn when the green leaves turn yellow.
(2.) And sorry I could not travel both (3.)And be one traveler,
The narrarator regrets that he can't go down both roads, because then he'd have to split himself in two and that's impossible.
(4.) long I stood, and looked down one as far as I could (5.)To where it bent in the undergrowth;
He stands at the fork for a long time and examines one of the roads as far as he can. He can't see the end of the road because the road curves away from his line of vision.
He takes the "Second Road" (the road that he didn't examine yet, but is going to characterize in the next few lines (ie lines 7 to 9.)
(7.) as just as fair,
This "Second Road" is just as good as the "First Road" that he looked at.
(8.) And having perhaps the better claim, (9.)Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
This "Second Road" may be more deserving of the narrator walking down it. Why? Well, there was grass on this "Second Road" and it seemed to be telling the narrator "I want you to walk on me."
(10.) Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same.
However in reality, both the "First Road" and "Second Road" were equally worn down by people walking down them. So line 9 says the ""Second Road" had grass and would like to be walked on, but line 10 says that grassy "Second Road" was walked on as much as the first road. (so maybe the dirt/pavement on "Second Road" was equally packed down as road one, but "Second Road" had hardy grass growing on it and was a glutton for punishment?)
Both roads were equally NOT walked on that morning. (The yellow leaves on the ground weren't crushed by people walking on them, breaking them up, causing them to decompose.)
(13.) Oh, I kept the first for another day!
He decided to save traveling on the "First Road" (the one he examined to where it bent) for another day [in the future].
(14.) Yet knowing how way leads on to way, (15.)I doubted if I should ever come back.
But he suspects that he'll never follow through on that decisiion. Once he takes the second road, that road will lead to another fork and he'l have to neglect another possible path choice. Hence, because of all the future road choices he knows he'll encounter, he thinks he's unlikely to ever come back and discover what this first road is like.
(16.) I shall be telling this with a sigh (17.)Somewhere ages and ages hence:
When he's much older, he will reminisce about this decision he is making. He'll do it with a sigh (of satisfaction? wistfulness? Regret? All of the above?)
(18.) Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- (19.)I took the one less traveled by,
He will say there were these two diverging roads and he took the less traveled one
(20.) And that has made all the difference.
Taking the less traveled road really changed his life. (For good? For bad? Neither good or bad, just different?)
Personal Meanings of "The Road Not Taken."
This is the type of poem that really seems to express what a lot of people feel. As a result, many people zealously defend their interpretation of the poem as being "the correct interpretation." But there is no correct interpretation. Beyond the literal meaning of the poem above, the poem can have different "correct" personal meanings to different people. If some crazy guy says "What 'The Road Not Taken' means to me is that it is obviously about how Adolf Hitler wet his bed as a kid." That personal meaning might have nothing to do with the literal meaning of the poem, but hey if that's how he interprets it, that's what it means to him. Who is going to say, "No, the poem does not mean that to you?"
So here are several types of people's personal interpretations:
The popular interpretation: It's good to take the road less traveled
"Making all the difference" suggests a "good thing." It's a sigh of contentment. So in the last stanza when the narrator says he took the road less traveled by, that results in a good thing. This personal interpretation tends to emphasize the importance of this last stanze and ignore (?) the previous stanzas where the narrator reveals the roads are about the same.
The Confusioun interpretation: It's bad to take the road less traveled
"Making all the difference" suggests a "bad thing." It's a sigh of regret. Moral of the story: Don't blaze new trails, follow the traditions set down by your predecessors.
The chooser's interpretation: Just to choose a road.
The narrator evaluated his choices and consequences, and then made a decision . He didn't just stand at the fork in the road forever. Sometimes, that's what you got to do.
The revisionist's interpretation: When you're old, you'll think you chose the less traveled road.
Unlike the previous interpretations, this one acknowledges that there needs to be some reconcilation between the "equally traveled" roads described in the second and third stanzas, and the "road less traveled" in the last stanza. This interpretation suggests that when the narrator is old and recollecting this experience, he'll "color the facts" so that he can recall that he took the less traveled road, even though actually the roads were equally traveled in reality.
The Darkwinner's interpretation: The revisionist interpretaion, including narrator characterization
My interpretation is similiar to the revisionist' interpretation, with one added nuance. Some people just chose a road at random and don't worry about it. But other people worry for 3 stanzas about which road to take (when there really isn't much of a difference between them). These are the types of people who will "justify" their decision later saying they took the one less traveled (when in reality the roads were equally traveled). This isn't a good or bad characteristic of these people, the poem just says it happens.
Keep in mind, that's just what the poem means to me, if the poem means something else to you, that's as correct a personal meaning as mine is.
http://www.darkwinner.com/literature/roadAnalysis.html
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Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey, life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem, "The Road Not Taken", has left its readers with many different interpretations. It is one's past, present and the attitude with which he looks upon his future that determines the shade of the light that he will see the poem in. 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.
"And sorry I could not travel both..." It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path. In an attempt to make a decision, the traveler "looks down one as far as I could". The road that will be chosen leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life. As much he may strain his eyes to see as far the road stretches, eventually it surpasses his vision and he can never see where it is going to lead. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey and decides where he is going.
"Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim." What made it have the better claim is that "it was grassland wanted wear." It was something that was obviously not for everyone because it seemed that the majority of people took the other path therefore he calls it "the road less traveled by". The fact that the traveler took this path over the more popular, secure one indicates the type of personality he has, one that does not want to necessarily follow the crowd but do more of what has never been done, what is new and different.
"And both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black." The leaves had covered the ground and since the time they had fallen no one had yet to pass by on this road. Perhaps Frost does this because each time a person comes to the point where they have to make a choice, it is new to them, somewhere they have never been and they tend to feel as though no one else had ever been there either. "I kept the first for another day!" The desire to travel down both paths is expressed and is not unusual, but "knowing how way leads on to way", the speaker of this poem realizes that the decision is not just a temporary one and he "doubted if I should ever come back." This is his common sense speaking and acknowledging that what he chooses now will affect every other choice he makes afterward. Once you have performed an act or spoken a word that crystallizes who you are, there is no turning back and it cannot be undone.
Once again at the end of the poem the regret hangs over the traveler like a heavy cloud about to burst. He realizes that at the end of his life, "somewhere ages and ages hence", he will have regrets about having never gone back and traveling down the roads he did not take. Yet he remains proud of his decision and he recognizes that it was this path that he chose that made him turn out the way and he did and live his life the way in which he lived. "I took the road less traveled by and that had made all the difference." To this man, what was most important, what really made the difference, is that he did what he wanted, even if it meant taking the road less traveled. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be the same man he is now.
There are many equally valid meanings to this poem and Robert Frost may have intended this. He may have been trying to achieve a universal understanding. In other words, there is no judgment, no specificity, no moral. There is simply a narrator who makes a decision in his life that had changed the direction of his life from what it may have otherwise been. It allows all readers from all different experiences to relate to the poem.
http://www.chuckiii.com/Reports/Poetry/Analysis_of_The_Road_Not_Taken_Robert_Frost.shtml
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The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
Summary:
"The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost
The literal meaning of this poem is about a traveler that is on a road and at this point of this poem it splits into two paths. The traveler wishes that he could travel both of them. The traveler looked at both the roads and he found that the one was traveled more than the other was. He took the one that was least traveled. Neither road had been traveled lately. He said that he would leave the other one for another day. But he doubted that he would ever come back. Then he says that he took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference.
The figurative meaning of "The Road Not Taken" is that the traveler is really just a person that is on the "road" of life. The point of which the road splits is a choice that the person has to make. He chooses the harder choice like it is harder to say "no" to drugs and to fight against peer pressure than it is to just say "yes." The reason why the "road" is harder is because the road is not beaten as much. The choice must have been hard because he said, "And sorry I could not travel both." He said that he would leave it for another day, but he doubted that he would ever come back. That means that he wishes that he could have the choice again and if he did then he would choose the other path to see what it was like. He also says that that one choice that he made has made all the difference.
http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2005/5/25/184935/747
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"The Road Not Taken"
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
---Robert Frost---
"The Road Not Taken", by "Robert Frost" was first published in 1916, and was included in a collection titled "Mountain Interval" (Wikipedia). Some critics would say that its meaning is pretty straight forward. It describes the process of an individual having to make a decision in life, not knowing at that moment if the decision will be the right one, and surely to second guess the decision sometime later. However, regardless of the decision, it is a decision made, that has played a part in what that individual is today. Is this what Frost intended? I feel that by doing a biographical analysis on "Frost", we can find his true meaning in this poem. To make this analysis we must look at Frost’s life prior to 1916 for any relativity and validity.
Toward the end of 1894, living in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Frost had sold his very first poem. Excited, he proposed to a woman named Elinor Miriam White, although they were not married until she finished college. After getting married, Frost’s grandfather had bought them a farm where Frost had continued writing in the early mornings. His farming had proved to be unfulfilling and not very successful. After nine years he decided to go back to teaching English, which he had done briefly before getting married.
In 1912 the couple moved to Great Britain, then eventually settling in Beaconsfield, just outside London, England (Wikipedia). "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both", (Frost). If the roads indeed represent choice, then the yellow wood represents life. Could Frost be writing about his decision to move to Great Britain leaving America behind? Frost then writes of sorrow and not being able to travel both roads, could this be fear of future regret? What he will miss by leaving America? "And be one traveler, long I stood" (Frost). This represents his uncertainty of what the future might bring them in Great Britain. Possibly Second Guessing?
While living in England Frost befriended another poet (Edward Thomas). Together, Frost and Thomas would take long walks in the forest, where Thomas would often complain that they should have taken another path (Wikipedia). Frost and his wife only stayed in England a short time, moving back to America as World War I began in 1915. Upon their arrival, Frost purchased another farm in Franconia, New Hampshire. This is where Frost started his career of writing, teaching and lecturing (Wikipedia). When we look further at the poem, "And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear (Frost);" This can be represented by the fact, he had moved to Great Britain. "Though as for that, the passing there, Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay" (Frost). After returning home to America Frost might feel like he is right back where he started, and that possibly he should not have left to begin with. Frost writes further, "Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way" (Frost). I feel this represents that before moving to Great Britain and then to England, Frost thought he could always return home, but knowing after some choices are made it is not always easy undoing them, thus "I doubted if I should ever come back" (Frost). This does not mean he thought he would never return to America, it was only a belief when making the initial decision to move away.
"I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference" (Frost). Frost expresses here that he will one day look back on the decision he has made, and then sigh, knowing it has made him the individual he is.
I feel that analysis of Frosts life, from the time he left high school until the time this poem was published in 1916, shows just how his biographical background influenced this poem. However, "biographical accounts make it clear that Frost did not intend the message of this poem to be taken at face value. His biographer, Laurence Thompson, explained in
The literal meaning of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" involves a traveler's decision to choose the less traveled and more difficult of two paths emerging from a fork in the road. The figurative meaning is that the choice symbolizes the "road" of life and that the person must decide which way to take his or her life.And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost: The Years of Triumph 1915-1938, that the poet wrote "The Road Not Taken" as a satire of his friend Edward Thomas. Frost was amused by Thomas’ indecisiveness; by the way he would dither over decisions, unable to make up his mind" (Kelly). Robert Frost on his own poetry: "One stanza of 'The Road Not Taken' was written while I was sitting on a sofa in the middle of England: Was found three or four years later, and I couldn't bear not to finish it. I wasn't thinking about myself there, but about a friend who had gone off to war, a person who, whichever road he went, would be sorry he didn't go the other. He was hard on himself that way."
Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 23 Aug. 1953 (Frost, Road Not Taken) Wikimedia Commons
Frost said his poem "The Road Not Taken" was tricky-very tricky. Three things make his poem tricky-the time frame, and the words "sigh" and "difference."
Robert Frost’s "
A Tricky Poem
Frost claims that he wrote this poem about his friend Edward Thomas, with whom he had walked many times in the woods near London. Frost has said that while walking they would come to different paths and after choosing one, Thomas would always fret wondering what they might have missed by not taking the other path.
About the poem, Frost asserted, "You have to be careful of that one; it's a tricky poem - very tricky." And he is, of course, correct. The poem has been and continues to be used as an inspirational poem, one that to the undiscerning eye seems to be encouraging self-reliance, not following where others have led.
http://lindasuegrimes.suite101.com/robert-frosts-tricky-poem-a8712
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http://mensaforkids.com/poetry/MFK-Poetry-3.pdf
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http://john-c-evenstar.hubpages.com/hub/Biographical-Analysis-The-Road-Not-Taken
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Robert Frost -
(11.) And both that morning equally lay (12.)In leaves no step had trodden black.
(6.) Then took the other,
(1.) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
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Individualism
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Caution
Rhyme Scheme
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Gloucestershire, in the summer of 1914. Another writer, Edward Thomas (1878-1917), was staying with his family at a cottage half a mile away. Thomas was a literary critic, essayist, and nature writer who had favorably reviewed a volume of Frost's poetry and become one of his best friends. During their frequent walks in lanes, forests, and heather fields, they would discuss poetry and botany, noting the plants and flowers in the region. At the urging of Frost, Thomas began writing poetry and later achieved his greatest fame in this genre. Upon returning from their walks, Thomas often expressed a wish that they had taken an alternate trail or road to view its plants. In response, Frost began writing "The Road Not Taken," but he did not finish it until he and his family returned to the United States. Frost and Thomas continued to communicate until Thomas died fighting in World War I. In "The Road Not Taken," the path through the "yellow wood" could be anywhere, but Frost may have been picturing the Gloucestershire wilds when he began putting the poem on paper..
