Poem analysis essay of Robert Frost's poem "the road not taken".

Essay by NazHigh School, 12th grade November 2002

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The poet basically says that everyone is a traveler and choosing the roads to follow on the map of life is never a straight path that leaves someone with one single direction in which to head.

The poet's point of view in this poem is his belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man who he is. From the tone of this poem, he has an inspiring and thoughtful mood. "I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by," in this passage, Robert Frost shows an inspiring mood. Taking a road that was not much traveled by, he gives the readers a sense of inspiration as to make your own choices and do what you think is right You don't really have to choose a regular way out of life, but follow your heart and dreams.

The poem also has a gloomy tone to it as the traveler weeps for the possibilities that the need of making a choice leaves one unsatisfied, as we can see from the words used in the poem such as "sorry" and "sigh."

In the first stanza, the first line of the poem itself develops the theme of the entire poem. Road, here represents the road of life. The two roads in this poem symbolize the poet's choice between two different metaphorical paths he must take. He used the form of writing using the above metaphors which fits the poem perfectly as the reader can picture himself as being the traveler on a road.

Robert Frost mentions the two roads diverged in a wood twice in his poem. This repetition depicts the main theme in the poem; which is the choices in life. The poem also consists of a rhyme scheme. The first, third, and fourth lines rhyme. Also, the last word of the second and fifth lines of the poem rhyme. The word wood and travel are also repeated in the first and the last stanzas as well. The repetition gives the poem a smooth flow as well, since it keeps relating back to its main idea of life's decisions and makes the poem come together as a whole.

The theme of "The Road Not Taken" suggests that it is always better to be a leader than a follower. Basically, Frost is telling the reader to follow his or her desire and do what one feels is right. Not let anyone keep you from doing what you want to do. It appeals to everyone to a great extent as we all have dreams and desires, which Robert Frost displays in his poem and gives his outlook, as to how the decisions we make drastically change our life.