![]() The poem's speaker tells us he "shall be telling", at some point in the future, of how he took the road less traveled … yet he has already admitted that the two paths "equally lay / In leaves" and "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same." So the road he will later call less traveled is actually the road equally traveled. A 2015 critique in the Paris Review by David Orr described the misunderstanding this way: Actually, it expresses some irony regarding such an idea. Yet, it is a frequently misunderstood poem, often read simply as a poem that champions the idea of "following your own path". "The Road Not Taken" is one of Frost's most popular works. In one of the few lines containing strictly iambs, the more regular rhythm supports the idea of a turning towards an acceptance of a kind of reality: "Though as for that the passing there … " In the final line, the way the rhyme and rhythm work together is significantly different, and catches the reader off guard. The variation of its rhythm gives naturalness, a feeling of thought occurring spontaneously, affecting the reader's sense of expectation. "The Road Not Taken" reads conversationally, beginning as a kind of photographic depiction of a quiet moment in yellow woods (imagery). The meter is iambic tetrameter, with each line having four two-syllable feet, though in almost every line, in different positions, an iamb is replaced with an anapest. With the rhyme scheme as ABAAB, the first line rhymes with the third and fourth, and the second line rhymes with the fifth. ![]() The poem consists of four stanzas of five lines each. Thomas was killed two years later in the Battle of Arras. Thomas took the poem seriously and personally, and it may have been significant in his decision to enlist in World War I. ![]() After Frost returned to New Hampshire in 1915, he sent Thomas an advance copy of "The Road Not Taken". Thomas was indecisive about which road to take, and in retrospect often lamented that they should have taken the other one. One day, as they were walking together, they came across two roads. Thomas and Frost became close friends and took many walks together. The first 1915 publication differs from the 1916 republication in Mountain Interval: In line 13, "marked" is replaced by "kept" and a dash replaces a comma in line 18.įrost spent the years 1912 to 1915 in England, where among his acquaintances was the writer Edward Thomas. Its central theme is the divergence of paths, both literally and figuratively, although its interpretation is noted for being complex and potentially divergent. " The Road Not Taken" is a narrative poem by Robert Frost, first published in the August 1915 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, and later published as the first poem in the 1916 poetry collection, Mountain Interval. ![]() The Road Not TakenĪ reading of "The Road Not Taken" Cover of Mountain Interval, along with the page containing "The Road Not Taken" And that one choice changed his life.Not to be confused with The Road Less Traveled. All in all, this poem is about the choice the speaker has made. And in the end, years later, he would say that in the woods he came across two roads, and he took the one that was less traveled. Furthermore, the poet says that he does not know where the paths lead. Whereas, the leaves on the other path appear to be trampled upon, suggesting many have not walked that path. Also, he goes on and symbolizes the easy “ choices” with trampled leaves on of the paths. The author means, that he regrets that he’d have to choose one of the paths. Here in the poem, the speaker says, “Two roads diverged in the yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both”. About plunging yourself in the great unknown, doing things that scare us. This poem gives a strong message about choice. 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. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both, Be one traveler, long I stood, And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth 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, And both that morning equally lay In leaves, no step had trodden black.
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