the road not taken robert frost analysis

“The next time I'm here, I'll take the other one” is what he tells himself, knowing fully well that there may not be a next time. And whenever we list pros-and-cons of any choice, taking one side of the matter and then the other, we are, in a sense, contradicting ourselves.) So there is already a fear of having picked the wrong one, which is assuaged with: (You could call this contradiction, but it's just that on closer examination the difference has vanished. Both roads are good perhaps the one he didn't take is good too.

So, then again (“Though as for that”), the difference is not such a big one, possibly even non-existent. Immediately after making this decision on such flimsy grounds though, he is aware that: Why? Simply because it appears “perhaps” better, after looking at its grass and feeling that it needs walking on. He's considered one road and then decided to take the other one, which (“as just as fair”) is very similar. Of course, being a single person he can't travel both (what a delightfully absurd idea!), so he's having to make up his mind. In the very first line the author sets the context quickly: here he is, faced with two roads in a wood. In the context of the poem, though, it appears that the author may have intended (see questions on authorial-intent) something else (or something more), which becomes apparent if we read the poem closely, in its entirety and in order. (The rhyme, the repetition of the “I”, …) So those who wish to “borrow” the language of a poet to express this idea about themselves are certainly not doing anything “wrong”. Here we have a master poet who has cloaked this idea in creative language, and there are all sorts of subtle things that make the words memorable and charming. To use language is to give expression to ideas language begins to turn into poetry when the ideas are striking, or the form is striking, or both. And why not? They express an idea that is almost heroic: of doing the unconventional thing, being a maverick rather a conformist, of the virtue of individualism that has always resonated in America, of the satisfaction (or regret!) that your choice ended up making a difference.

These lines, the last three lines of Frost's The Road Not Taken, have been endlessly quoted by many people: as epigraphs in their books, on their personal web pages, and so on. The language is simple and accessible, though the ideas are more complex than they seem.Quotes have a way of taking on a life of their own. The voice is that of the poet or narrator, using the first person ‘I’. The rhythm is varied there is no clear metrical pattern, but strong use of enjambment creates a ‘conversational’ flow that is intimate and seems informal, as if the poet is ‘talking’ to the reader. The poem comprises four stanzas of five lines each, known as quintains. Yet it became popular … taken to be an inspiring poem, which sounds noble and is really mischievous ( Frost: A Literary Life Reconsidered, 1984)

Frost did on occasion warn his … audiences that it was a tricky poem. characterized himself in that poem particularly as ‘fooling my way along.’ He also said that it was really about his friend (English poet) Edward Thomas, who when they walked together always castigated himself for not having taken another path than the one they took. The last line of the poem is, of course, ambiguous. There is no right answer and we will always wonder subsequently if there was a better route. Taught in high school classrooms across the English-speaking world, it’s become popular as a depiction of rugged individuality, of “straying from the beaten path.”īut is it that simple? Careful reading will show Frost’s intention to convey that whatever path, whatever decision in life, is taken by the listener or reader, it will leave them wondering if the alternative would have been better. One of the most widely quoted poems ever written, “The Road Not Taken” was completed in 1915 and first published in Frost’s volume Mountain Interval (1916).

The road not taken robert frost analysis