Review: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost

 

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;

 

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.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

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.

 

 

    ‘The Road Not Taken’ was written by Robert Frost in 1916. It also became the most popular poem of him. The poem consists of four stanzas and five lines in each, and the rhyme scheme is ABAAB. This poem is about someone who is confused about his choice of life. When I read the words ‘two roads’, I understand that it means that two choices of life. As a traveler, the narrator cannot travel in both paths, so he had to choose one of them. Between the two roads, the narrator finds that one of the roads is grassier. Actually, they both are looking equally fair, like he said,

 “Then took the other, as just as fair,

and having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear”

    But, the other road looks like it is less traveled than the first one. After a lot of thinking and consideration, although he does not know how the end of the two paths is, he set his heart to choose the one that is less traveled. In spite of his uncertainty about which way is right, he still wishes to walk on the other way someday, tough he doubts to ever come back again.

    This poem contains imagery, simile, personification and alliteration. For example, the sentence ‘as just as it is fair’ is a simile. ‘Wanted wear’ is a personification, the lines “and both that morning equally lay in leaves no step had trodden black” is imagery, and then ‘ages and ages’ is an example of alliteration. The tone of this poem is doubtful but courageous at the same time, in my opinion. The narrator seems to doubt about what to choose, but then he bravely make his choice.

    In the line 16, the narrator said, “I shall be telling this with a sigh”. Since he cannot ensure which way is right, it can be happen a failure that will make him upset because of his choice. But, out of all the possibility, at least the narrator could be proud of choosing the different way, because it is something that distinguishes him from the others.

    In this life, we are required to make choices, whether the choices will end up in failure or successful, no one knows. However, our bravery to make a choice is the most important. Moreover, if we dare to choose the road that is less traveled by many people, then we will get a lot of experiences and learning which not everyone can get.