The Road not Taken

Essay by firedawgUniversity, Bachelor'sA, April 2005

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"The Road Not Taken"

The poem itself is about the road not taken, not neccessarily about the road less traveled. There are four stressed syllables per line, varying on an iambic tetrameter base. Robert Frosts' tone and setting helped to illustrate the struggle a person goes through in choosing 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 his decision at some point and time, wondering what might have been. The nature of the decision is such that there is no right or wrong path, but rather only the road chosen.

The narrator of the poem comes to a point in the woods where he is forced to choose one of two different roads to travel. Both paths are equally covered with un-worn leaves. The narrator chooses one, telling himself that he will take the other another day.

However, he knows it is doubtful that he will have the opportunity to do so again. He admits that someday in the future he will look back with remorse, knowing he took the road less traveled.

The "Yellow wood" symbolizes life. The two different roads represent the many decisions in life that people come across. Faced with a difficult decision, Frost had to weigh his options carefully in order to make a satisfactory choice. At the split in the road, the speaker looks down the two paths, attempting to see what each of the roads will bring. Sight is limited but 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 is down the road. The first of two paths is the...