THE ROAD NOT TAKEN-BY ROBERT FROST

PRESENTED BY- NITIN CHHAPERWAL CLASS-IX ROLL NO - 15

Robert Frost 1874-1963Robert Frost was born in San

Francisco, California but spent most of his life in New

England, a rural area in the north east of the United

States. The area is characterized by hills, woods, farms and small towns. Frost

himself worked for many years as a farmer, in addition to

teaching English and writing poems. His poems reflect the sights and sounds of where he

lived, the fields, farms and woods and scenes of everyday life. All those elements make

Frost’s poems accessible, leading readers to understand

the deeper truths behind seemingly simple ideas.

Most people have been faced with a fork in an actual road or path, and not been sure which path to go down. Of course, today, we can whip out a GPS or cell phone and figure out which is the correct path. But if we're beyond the reach of satellites, we just make a choice, unaided by technology. We might pick the road that gets us where we want to go, or one that takes us somewhere new, but either way, the road we choose takes us to where we are.

Just like trying to pick a path when we're driving or walking, we've all had to choose from different paths in life: which job to take, which college to go to, which girl or boy to ask to homecoming – the list of life's choices is endless. And for every metaphorical road we take in life, there is a road not taken – the club we didn't join, the class we didn't take, the words we didn't say.

One of the big questions we face is whether or not to take the well-beaten, typical path. Is that the best choice, or should we be non-conformists and take the less-travelled route? Years into the future, after making our decision, how will we feel about the path we've chosen? 

Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is about these quandaries, present in every person's life. A lot of people think this poem is encouraging us to take the road that's less travelled. And while it's easy to fall into that well-beaten path of analysis, it's not exactly accurate. So make sure that when you read this poem, you take your own road, whether it's the road less travelled or not.

INTRODUCTION

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth

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.

1ST STANZA ?

Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claimBecause it was grassy and wanted wear,Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same

The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less travelled. 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.

2ND STANZA ?

And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I marked the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to wayI doubted if I should ever come back.

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.

3RD STANZA ?

I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere 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.

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.

4TH STANZA ?

LITERARY DEVICESThere are plenty literary devices in this poem to be discovered. One of these is

antithesis. When the traveller comes to the fork in the road, he wishes he could travel both. Within the current theories of our physical world, this is a non possibility (unless he has a split personality). The traveller realizes this and immediately rejects the idea.Yet another little contradiction are two remarks in the second stanza about the road less travelled. First it's described as grassy and wanting wear, after which he turns to say the roads are actually worn about the same (perhaps the road less travelled makes travellers turn back?).

All sensible people know that roads don't think, and therefore don't want. They can't. But

the description of the road wanting wear is an example of personification in this poem. A road actually wanting some as a person would.

The poet has also used imagery as a literary device: "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" (from the first stanza), and "And both that morning equally lay/in leaves no step had trodden black" (from the third stanza) to create a picture in the reader's mind.

Our speaker has come to a fork in a path in the woods. It's fall, and the leaves are turning colors. He's unsure which way to go, and wishes he could go both ways. He looks down one path as far as he can see, but then he decides to take the other. He thinks the path he decides to take is not quite as worn as the other one, but really, the paths are about the same, and the fallen leaves on both look pretty fresh.

The speaker reflects on how he plans to take the road that he didn't take another day, but suspects that he probably won't ever come back. Instead, far off in the future, he'll be talking about how his decision was final and life changing.

SUMMARY