The Road Not Taken By: Robert Frost

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,

Continued And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked 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 March 26, 1874 - January 29, 1963 Born in San Francisco, California His father was a journalist and teacher Attended Dartmouth for two months Sold his first poem "My Butterfly. An Elegy" in 1894 Married Elinor White on December 19, 1895 Attended Harvard for two years before dropping out due to illness Won four Pulitzer Prizes in 1924 for New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes Won United States Congressional Gold Medal in 1960 Read his well-known poem "The Gift Outright" at John F. Kennedy's inauguration Died of complications from prostate surgery in Boston on January 29, 1963

Form of Poem Written basically in iambic tetrameter (one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable) Five line stanzas are called quintains Rhyme scheme in each stanza is ABAAB

Interpretation This poem is, when literally read, about a traveler who has come to a fork in the road and is deciding which path to take. Both of the paths appear to be equally worn, or not worn to be exact. The traveler seems to think neither path is well-traveled. Yet somehow, after pondering, the traveler takes "the one less traveled by". Often this poem is seen as pretty cut-and-dry as mirroring an adventurous spirit and encouraging people to move outside the norm and follow their own path. However, when read more closely, we see that Frost equates the worn qualities of both paths. Instead of trying to analyze the entire poem, I'll go stanza by stanza.

Stanza Interpretation 1st Stanza: This stanza shows the traveler coming to the fork in the road. It represents someone coming to a choice in his/her life. He/she looks at both options, knowing they can only choose one and not knowing where either option will lead. 2nd Stanza: This stanza has the line "having perhaps the better claim" when referring to one of the paths over the other, which insinuates that one path is more worn than the other. However, this belief is revoked later in the stanza with the line "had worn them really about the same". This can be interpreted as both of the choices in a decision appear to be equally valid and appealing. There is no obvious choice and that is why the choice is so difficult. These are the kinds of decisions that plague people.

Stanza Interpretation 3rd Stanza: This stanza re emphasizes that the paths are equally worn, and then goes on to say that once you choose one path, you have to commit to it and there is no going back to choose again. This means the finality of decisions. Once we make a choice, we have to stick with it and follow it wholeheartedly because there is no going back. 4th Stanza: This stanza, with the first two lines, gives the impression that this decision is one that will be remembered years from now and will be very influential on the person's life. Then it switches from talking in a future tense to talking about the decision as a past choice, saying that the person chose the less obvious or riskier option and it has had a very strong impact on his/her life.

Overall Many people think that this poem is about taking a risk and choosing the path less traveled, but when looked at more closely, we learn that the paths appear very similar at first, yet the traveler was able to pick the one less traveled? I think the path less traveled refers to making a choice to take a risk, but the reason that both paths appear to be the path less traveled is because every decision is a risk. We never know what the outcome of any decision will be, we can never predict which one is the right choice, or else that path would appear well- worn and obvious. So whenever we make a decision, we pick an unknown future and a less traveled road, and when we look back at the choice we made, it will always "make all the difference" in our lives.

Personal Response I always believed this poem was saying to stray from the well-known and to take the path that goes outside of your comfort zone, basically that there is one option that presents a risk and one that is safe and picking the risk will make all the difference. But now that I understand that this poem refers to the mysterious and risky characteristics that reside in all decisions transforms the poem from a life motto for people to something everyone can relate to. We all have to make difficult decisions with risky outcomes, armed with knowledge that they are final and unchangeable. This poem took on a completely new and more relatable meaning once I looked closer into it and realized the different message.

Sources http://www.shmoop.com/road-not-taken/rhyme-form-meter.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/192 http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-road-not-taken/