Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Road Not Taken is a narrative poem written by Robert Frost that was published in 1915. It became the first poem of Robert Frost’s poetic collection titled Mountain Interval which was published in 1916. It is one of the most commonly read popular poems of Robert Frost though it is a difficult and complex poem and often the reader misinterprets it as an optimistic poem about success by opting for a path ‘less traveled by.’ However, the poem is satirical poem lightly mocking such people who remain undecided and confused at any juncture of choices, and suggests that no matter whichever path they may take, they will always feel that had they taken the other path, it might have worked wonders.
The poem suggests that life is full of ambiguities and there is no meaning in regretting the past decisions that we took. While one should be careful while making a decision in life, he should not remain indecisive, rather he should be swift and confident while making a choice and should not regret it later in the future.
Themes of The Road Not Taken
Some of the minor themes of the poem include life as a journey, desires, uncertainty, indecision, ambiguity, and overthinking. The main theme of the poem is carpe-diem. The poet suggests that a person should not worry too much about the past or the future. One should live in the present and seize the moment at every instance without overthinking. One should opt for what he feels is right at the moment and stick to it, without regretting the other choice he might have made. The journey of the poet is indicative of the journey of life of any person and the divergent road offering two different similar paths suggests all the major and minor choices that we usually make in our day-to-day life. The choices that we omitted often face us as desires that we couldn’t fulfill. However, one should understand that one cannot have their cake and eat it too. One shouldn’t regret such desires. Life is full of uncertainties and we must embrace them. Overthinking won’t ascertain a good future, it may snatch or waste opportunities though. Thus, one should avoid indecision and should take swift, confident, and careful decisions appropriately at the proper time. The poem is against the idea of “What if...” had you made the choice you did not make. This pondering about the different life one may have lived had they done something differently is central to 'The Road Not Taken."
Structure of The Road Not Taken
The poem consists of four stanzas of five lines each, thus each stanza is a quintain or quintet with a rhyming scheme of ABAAB. Robert Frost used iambic tetrameter mixed with anapest in place of an iamb in some lines. It is a short poem with only 20 lines offering a sound of sense in many instances. Sound of sense implies that the poet used such words in a poem whose sound forms imagery due to the form of words and sound of sense. The mood and tone of the poem are reflective and meditative.
Literary Devices used in The Road Not Taken
The title of the poem The Road Not Taken itself is a metaphor and indicates the choice we omitted for different opportunities. Frost used the phrase “yellow woods” as a metaphor to indicate the idea of change in a difficult situation as trees change their leaves. In the last stanza, the phrase “less traveled road” suggests the choices less preferred by individuals. Anaphora has been used in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines of the first stanza (repetition of And). The third and fourth lines also contain enjambment. Alliteration has been used in the phrase “wanted wear.” The line “In leaves no step had trodden black.” contains Anastrophe and Hyperbaton. The last stanza contains irony and paradox. Robert Frost has made excellent use of imagery throughout the poem right from the start (“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.”) which clearly gives the idea of the autumn season and thus the reader can guess where the poet is facing the struggle to take a decision. The poem is full of tricky symbolism. "Road" symbolizes the journey of life Diversion splitting the road symbolizes the choice a person takes. "Yellow woods" symbolize change, and "Ages and ages" symbolize the assumption of the future. The most tricky symbol is at the beginning of the poem, “Two roads” which symbolizes two identical choices, both are equally endearing and thoroughly similar. None of the roads is less traveled. The two superficially identical roads symbolize the choices a person has to make.
Summary of The Road Not Taken
1st 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;
The first two lines show the dilemma of choice that we often face. The poet is strolling through a jungle when he meets a divergence, splitting the road in two. He feels sorry as he cannot opt for traveling on both as he is just one traveler and cannot live two divergent lives and still be one single person. The poet is mesmerized by the beauty of the road in the woods and he wishes to experience nature on both roads. However, he can’t “have his cake and eat it, too.” Thus, he stops and contemplates which path to take. The poet understands the importance of being careful while making such choices. He patiently takes time and stares down one path as far as he can, to where it trails off into the undergrowth. He does so to make an informed decision so that he could justify his choice when the regret of not opting for the other road starts haunting him.
2nd Stanza
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,
While the poet was contemplating which path to take, he noticed that one of the paths appears greener with fresh grass as if not many have traversed through that path and hence the grass on it hasn’t worn out. He pts the fresher path with less trodden grass.
Then the poet suggests the irony that “the grass is always greener on another side of the fence.” In the 9th and 10th lines, the poet says that as he chose the path and stepped forward on it, he realized that it was equally worn out a used as the other that he omitted. He realized that the path he has chosen is not as less traveled as he was telling himself.
3rd Stanza
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.
The poet further exclaims and accepts that both the paths were equally fresh and green and none could be said as better. After examining both paths properly, the poet realizes that both paths are equally shed by falling leaves and no one has yet stepped on the leaves fallen on both paths yet. But he has already chosen one of the paths. So he offers a justification to himself that he kept, or saved the other path for another day. That he has chosen this path for today, but the next time when he will visit the same juncture, he will opt for the other path as it appears equally good and beautiful. Line 13 suggests that the poet has taken a firm decision to step forward on the chosen path. However, he is doubtful that the other path may appear to be more beautiful and adventurous. He confesses that it is highly unlikely that he will ever reach the same juncture to opt for the other path that he rejected today. This is because as he is moving forward, he will continue to face such divergences again and again and will keep taking his decisions which will continue to further away him from the other path. There is no turning back.
4th Stanza
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.
Now when the poet has made up his mind and stepped forward on the road he chose, he is regretting over his choice but tries to cover it up as he thinks of what he will say about his choice, sometime in the future. The poet says that whenever he will remember that juncture when he took the decision to opt for this path, he will take a deep sigh as he knows what he might have missed. However, he decides to lie and confirms that he will present his choice as a brave choice and tell the lie that he chose a path “less traveled” and that made all the difference. However, the truth is known to him that his path was no less traveled, it was exactly similar or equal to the path he omitted. In the last line, the poet suggests that he will strengthen his lie by making another equally farcical claim that his choice to take this less traveled road made all the difference, in where he will be at the time.
The poem is a light mocking of indecisive people and suggests that ambiguity is the way of life. We can never know where our choices will lead us. So preplanning and overthinking at a juncture of choice and decision-making is fruitless and silly. And similarly silly is the habit of justification and regrets over one’s choices.
Life is about the paths one chooses and walks through, not about “the road not taken.”
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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