The road not taken By Robert Frost "Road at Chantilly" by Paul
Czanne
Slide 3
The road not taken by Robert Frost 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,
Slide 4
The road not taken 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.
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I chose this poem because... I wanted a traditional poem by a
famous poet. the road less travelled is a common quote and I
wondered if this was where the saying came from The image that was
presented with the poem attracted my attention. It related to the
yellow wood where we usually think of a wood as green.
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Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost 1874-1963 American poet and
playwright 4 Pulitzer Prizes for poetry Written hundreds of poems
Published collections of poetry Difficult family life
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The theme Choices we make in life By choosing the less
travelled road our life will be more fulfilled Be adventurous and
get the most out of life.
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The form (how are the lines and stanzas organised?) 4 stanzas 5
lines in each Rhyming pattern as follows Two roads diverged in a
yellow wood, A And sorry I could not travel both B And be one
traveller, long I stood A And looked down one as far as I could A
To where it bent in the undergrowth; B
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Tone Is somewhat gloomy Uses words like sorry and sigh The
traveller has regrets that he cant follow both roads, even though
he would like to. Ends on a more positive not and that has made all
the difference.
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Imagery The road wanting wear Can a road really want people to
travel on it? This is personification a inanimate object behaving
like a person.
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Literary Devices 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, 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.
Slide 12
What is the message for the reader? 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
Slide 13
Robert Frosts definition of poetry "All poetry is a
reproduction of the tones of actual speech. "A poem begins with a
lump in the throat; a home-sickness or a love-sickness. It is a
reaching-out toward expression; an effort to find fulfilment. A
complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the
thought has found the words."