Research Paper On The Road Not Taken

Poetry Essay
Robert Frost is an American poet born in San Francisco in 1874. He died at the age of 88 in Boston when the United State has become the leading power of the free world. His lifetime spans almost a century of remarkable change and his poetry does not concern itself with the problem of modern life. Instead Frost looked to the century side of inspiration and drew on the stores of traditions sustain though America. Robert Frost conveys his perspective on humanity through his poetry where the characters in his poems are voice and speak simply about meters of everyday life. To convey his perspective on humanity Robert Frost uses poetic feature such as themes, techniques, structures and forms to express his ideas. By discussing the use
In ‘The Road Not Taken' Frost uses simple, straight forward language to present a theme about life’s choices, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both” and the consequences “I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference”. The two roads symbolises the choices we make between alternatives our lives offer and this is an everyday concern of the speaker.

In Frosts’ “After Apple Picking”, the theme is that of coming to the end of life. “My long two pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree, Toward heaven still”. The end of the apple harvest symbolises the end of life and death is one certainty for all humanity.
Frost uses traditional poetic techniques to also convey his perspective on humanity. In “The Road Not Taken” the choice between two roads is metaphorically just like life where we are faced with the situation of choosing between two alternatives our lives offer. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” symbolises the two alternatives. Frost is using a metaphor to convey his perspective of
“For all, That struck the earth, No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble, Went sure to the cider apple heap as of no worth” is saying that we can’t waste the things we are presented with in life. He is comparing the throwing away of good apples to years of good life. So through the use of metaphors Frost is able to convey a perspective of humanity that we all encounter. Frost also uses imagery to convey his perspective. For example the wood is “yellow”, there is undergrowth along the path, the second road is “grassy” and the leaves on both have not been trodden black. Through these we know that the traveller is alone and recognises the challenge before him. But contrasting this we also know that he seeks company due to the way the story is told and from the reference to company “I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence”. Through this use of imagery Frost is conveying the human quality that we seek the company of others. In “After Apple Picking” the clarity of the imagery is striking. “I cannot rub the strangeness from my sight, I got from looking through a pane of glass, I skimmed this morning from the drinking trough”. Frost is presenting the frozen water in a drinking trough as a pane of glass and through the farmer he is conveying an image of him getting a different perspective on