Poetry Analysis of "The Road Not Taken"

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a poem as stated in its title is about the road not taken, not per say about the one less traveled. There are four stressed syllables per line, varying on an iambic tetrameter base. Frosts' tone and setting help illustrate the struggle a person goes through in their lives to pick the right road to travel. The figurative language used creates an aura of remorse over not being able to travel both roads. The speaker knows that he will second-guess himself somewhere down the line--or at the very least he will wonder at what is lost. The nature of the decision is such that there is no, "right" path, just the chosen one.

The narrator of the poem comes to a point in the woods, where he is forced to choose one of two a roads to travel. Both ways are equally worn and equally covered with un-worn leaves.

Robert Frost, American poet

English: Handwritten version of 'Happiness makes u...

Robert Frost, Dartmouth 1896.

The narrator chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day. But he knows it is doubtful that he will have the opportunity to do it. He admits that someday in the future he will look back with remorse and say he took less traveled road.

The "yellow wood " symbolizes life. The two different roads represent the many decisions in life that all must come accross. Faced with this decisions, Frost has to weigh his options carefully to make an satisfactory choice. At the split in the road, the speaker looks far down both the two paths to see what each of the paths will bring. Sight is limited. His eyes can only see the path until it bends into "the undergrowth." The author attempts to tell which path is better by trying to for see what...