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.
- Biography -
- Robert Lee Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet.
- His work was initially published in England before it was published in the United States.
- Robert Frost was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s father was a teacher.
Awards and recognition:
Frost was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times.Pulitzer Prizes
• 1924 for New Hampshire: A Poem With Notes and Grace Notes
• 1931 for Collected Poems
• 1937 for A Further Range
• 1943 for A Witness TreePoetry collections
• 1913. A Boy’s Will. London: David Nutt (New York: Holt, 1915)[66]
• 1914. North of Boston. London: David Nutt (New York: Holt, 1914)
o “After Apple-Picking”
o “The Death of the Hired Man”
o “Mending Wall”
• 1916. Mountain Interval. New York: Holt
o “Birches”
o “Out, Out”
o “The Oven Bird”
o “The Road Not Taken”
• 1923. Selected Poems. New York: Holt.
o “The Runaway”
o Also includes poems from first three volumes
• 1923. New Hampshire. New York: Holt (London: Grant Richards, 1924)
Summary
The poet was walking down the road, when he found a diversion where two roads diverged in different directions. The poet felt sorry that he could not travel on both the roads.
He had to make one decision and choose a single path. At the junction, the poet stood for a long time and tried to look at the roads as far as he could. He wanted to see the roads in full and wanted to know about both paths. But, he could not see anything beyond the diversion as the roads were curved and covered with trees.
In the stanza, the yellow wood refers to the forest with leaves, which were shed on the road and had turned yellow. This indicates that it was autumn season. Through this stanza, the poet wants to convey that in everyone’s life there comes a time when we have to make choices. We have alternatives, but we have to choose only one. At that time, we see the pros and cons of the situation and take the time to decide which path to take. Similarly, the poet is also taking time before making any decision. After pondering on it for a long time, the poet decided to take the other road.
He felt that both the roads were equally good. He started walking on the road which had grass on it and felt that it was a better road for him. The grassy road means that the road was not used and the wanted wear means that only a few people have walked through it. After walking some distance on the road, the poet felt that both the paths were almost the same. There was hardly any difference between them. Through this the poet conveys that, in our life whatever decision we take orchoices we make, each choice has some advantages and some disadvantages. Problems are everywhere, so we must be ready to face them.
The poet says that both the paths seemed to be similar that morning. Leaves were shed on both the roads, and they were still green. It means that no one had walked on the roads. He decided to take one path that day and the other path on another day. However, he knows that one way leads to another way. He could not go back and take the other path once he moved ahead with one. Similarly, in our life, when we make one decision, we can’t go back. We have to move ahead with the same choice and face the consequences which come our way. The poet says that in the future, he will take a deep breath and say that once upon a time he reached a point in life where he had to make one choice. There were two options for him, and he had to opt for one. At that time, he decided to take that road which was less travelled by people. It means that he took that decision which rare people take. And that decision has changed his entire life. Through the poem, the poet sends a powerful message that people should decide wisely in their life because the decision they take will have an impact on the rest of their life.