The_Road_Not_Taken

The Road Not Taken “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1) is the first line in the poem by Robert Frost. This poem consists of four stanzas and each stanza has five lines. His poem is a reflection of what we do every day and that is making decisions. In this poem, the reader takes us with him as he must make a choice in his life. He looks towards both roads and see that they are equally the same. He chooses one and says he will take the other another day, but doubts it will be possible. The reader continues on to say that in the future he will do this again, but with a different outcome. He will take the road less traveled by. “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” (1-5). These are the starting sentences of this poem and open up the scene to tell you that it takes place during the fall. The reader says that he stopped at a fork in the road. He tells us that he wished that he could take both roads. Since he couldn’t take both, he stood there trying to make his mind up. He looked down the roads as far as he could in attempt of making his decision easier. “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” (6-10). The read is now making his decision and is deciding to walk down one of the roads hoping that the one he chooses will better than the other. He said they both were exactly the same; both having the same amount of use. He had chosen this road because the road was grassy and needed to be walked on more. “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.” (11-15). The reader is still trying to see which road will be better. He says that both have leaves that have never been stepped on. They both have the same amount of wear. He then starts walking on the second path thinking about what the other path had in store. He then continues on saying that he will save the first road for another day. But the reader knows that he can’t return to the road once more. That is why he doubts that he will ever be able to come back to do so. “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” (16-20). The final lines of the poem are the most important. The reader is sad that he didn’t take the harder road because he sees that the easier road wasn’t what he expected it to be. With the decision already made, he knows that he cannot go back to the crossroad again to make the decision he now wish he made. The reader says that in the future, when he reaches a crossroad in the road he will recreate the scene with a twist. He will take the road less traveled by, and that it will make all the difference. This poem is a metaphor about the choice we have to face every day of our lives. The reader took the road he thought was easier to go through. But it wasn’t worth it in the end. He wishes he could go back and change it. We see this being true in our lives. When we come across a fork in the road, the usual response would be to take the easier path, but if you chose the path with more wear and tear it will be worth it in the long run. Robert Frost has shown us such a great analogy on the many decisions we make. He tells us to take the road less traveled by, and promises that it will make all the difference in the end.