Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken” depicts an individuals dilemma of making a choice and ultimately taking a risk. The poem consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme schemes are ABAAB. The rhymes are strict and masculine however, the tone notably changes on the last line. A masculine rhyme is a rhyme of final stressed syllables. The uses of the masculine rhyme, allowed too create the tone, and mood of the poem. This rhyme made the poem sound serious and the poet was able to make a solid point. Notably the last stanza does not contain a masculine rhyme. During the poem the tone was serious while the speaker was making a choice and once that choice was made it was as if a big relief fell over his shoulders. Frost also changes the tense from past to future, when changing the tenses he develops an anticipating, predictive tone, which allowed the reader to observe the speakers state of mind. By doing this, the poet completely changed the mood and the tone of the poem. Frost was able to achieve this by not making the last line masculine and changing tenses. …show more content…
Personification gives human characteristics to non-living things. In the eighth line “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (8), Frost states that the paths wanted wear, but paths cannot want only humans/animals can want. Thus, this line is personification, which intensifies the mood. It is a positive feeling and the speaker finds the need too choose that path. The poem illustrates an imagery of two roads, which symbolizes the two alternative choices the speaker faces in life. The speaker has to make an ultimatum on what he chooses to do with his life. He can either decide to take the road that most
In the story, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, there is a tale about a traveler, that has walked upon a set of two roads (ln. 1). Although this is what the story literally says, there is hidden meaning behind its words. There is a difference between reading a poem, and understanding what a poem is trying to tell you.
The traveller finds himself on a fork in the road and wishes that he could travel both. This being physically and figuratively a non-possibility, is recognised by the traveller and the idea is immediately rejected. The slight contradiction can be noted in the second stanza when one road is described as “grassy and wanted wear” and soon after the traveller conveys that the two roads are worn in almost the same manner. In the second stanza, Robert Frost utilises personification giving the road human characteristics. The "wanted wear" is a distinctively human characteristic and consequently personifies the path, giving it desires. This is purposefully done as the path itself embodies the act of making a choice which is also uniquely human. Frost builds on the/enhances the imagery created in this poem in the third stanza and the traveller distinguishes that the leaves on both roads fell recently and had not been marched upon and suggests that he should return and take the first road another time. The traveller is not sure whether he would be able to accomplish this desire as he comes to a realisation that life is quite short and as the decision he made would lead to other choices and
The meaning that Frost is portraying is not obvious by the title of this poem. This poem is not literal it is meant to be metaphorical. Frost Personifies nature to have life-like traits. The title does not give you an idea of what the poem is about or what the poem means.
This poem places the reader directly inside of Frost and the decisions that he has made throughout his life. Ultimately we cannot tell if he regrets his decisions or if he is better off for making them. Or is he just conflicted about choosing an overall emotion because his decisions in life have varied so much? This is extremely similar to the common man’s ideals of how his life could have been altered through a difference in a few choices. This poem discusses the morality of human choices and how it effects our entire lives as well as others. He seems like he has reflected on his life and that he is happy to have made it this
Chapter 9, Primary Reading: “Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, 1916” (pg.361) 1. In this poem, Robert Frost illustrates to the reader a difficult decision that he faces. In a literal context, the decision that has blurred his judgement is a fork in the road which divides two separate paths. Unfortunately, he cannot see down either path to determine which one leads to a better location. In a metaphorical context, the two “paths” are in fact two different decisions that the poet can make in his life.
First, my thought is the two roads were not actually roads but choices for this person: live or die. “and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one
The four time Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Robert Frost, is well known for his picturesque portrayal of rural lifestyle, focusing mainly on the New England region of the United States. “The Road Not Taken”, published in 1916 is one of his earliest written and most highly praised works. It is considered a masterpiece of American Literature and its content is frequently studied by high school and college students to this day. The poem is a closed frame narrative type consisting of four stanzas with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. While being the most popular of the numerous poems written by Robert Frost, it has also been one of the most misinterpreted and openly interpreted poems of his
The narrator in this poem creates a feeling of confusion about the travelers choices. He uses actions to move the plot along as well as imagery to create a picture in the reader’s mind. Due to the fact that there are two roads there has to be a decision made between them. By being confused and not knowing which to choose,
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both.” This is the first line of the opening stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken.” The traveler in this story has been walking down a path and come to two diverging roads. Thus, creating a situation in which the traveler must make a decision. This poem is often misinterpreted by readers and critics. The poem is entertaining, but it is not as deep and profound as many people believe. I interpret the poem as a reflection of the uncertainties of life, but in a humorous way.
Each road is equally lying there covered with leaves waiting to be chosen. Yet again Frost brings up the idea of it being fall, this symbolizes a timeframe in his life (Miss. Bissonnette in class discussion). It could represent that the author is in his middle ages, and taking decisions more seriously then if perhaps he was nineteen. In the third line of this stanza, yet knowing that he will probably never have the chance to come back, the narrator makes a judgment to just go for it. As this is such a difficult choice for him, he knows he must force himself to take the path. If he does not he will never make the choice. If the two roads were indeed the roads of life, then they would have each held something different for the traveler. By not taking one it makes all the difference in the world, because you have lived your life in accordance to a certain path, and if you did not take that road the outcome would be totally different.
I believe that the poem is just one big metaphor for life and the choices along the way. The paths are the different decision that are made along the way. No path is the right path, each person gets to go their own way through life. “one traveler” shows that the choice is only for that one individual, no one else has a say and that he is alone in this journey. The roads diverging are symbol for 2 different ways that your life can go, and one choice can make the difference between what happens in life. I think the roads are also symbols of the choices you make throughout life. That it’s one or the other, and not both. You can experience one path and dream about what the 2nd road would have been like.
From the poetry devices, we can see the literariness and the meaning of the poem. The choice that the persona made in front of the two diverging roads impacts the rest of his journey. Same as the persona, people are just like that traveler, traveling on the journey of life. The journey consists of many roads. Different choices on different roads lead to different destination and impact the rest of
In this poem, the traveler comes upon the two roads that diverge in a yellow wood. Both roads seem worn the same, but the traveler has a hard time figuring out what road to choose. The two roads may represent life changing decisions. As one gets older he or she may come upon decisions that could change their life forever. Usually these decisions take a long time to think about. As the traveler thinks about his decision, he begins to
The Road Not Taken is a poem about different paths and choices available in life. In an article by Exploring Poetry, Frost is said to use a metaphor to start his poem. The metaphor of diverging roads.( Exploring Poetry, 2003) In a different article from Exploring Poetry, they state that the poem is arranged in four stanzas with five lines in each stanza. They also say that the rhyme scheme is abaab. (Exploring Poetry, 2003) This poem is said to be like Frost’s life in that he had many options and paths he could have headed down. Although both of his parents died and he had a hard life, he chose the better path. Frost says in the poem, “ 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 Road Not Taken is definitely symbolic of parts of his life. Frost had many famous poems. Mending Wall is another infamous
The poet tells this with a sigh that what will happen later with his choice. He has selected the road which is less travelled. That is the difference between the first road and second road. There is an adventurous spirit in his decision.