Road Not Taken

The Road Never To Be Known While Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken,” can be read at face value, when analyzed at a deeper level, underlying themes appear just below the surface of this seemingly playful piece. He is so nonchalant that it takes keen perception to find the theme within his words. He states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” but, he is not talking simply about roads; they are metaphoric for choices one must make during life. In this poem, Frost utilizes tactics such as the title, symbolism, allegory, rhyme, and rhythm to convey his message. Frost writes to express his outlook upon physical decisions that ultimately dictate the inner emotions in the extent of one’s life.

Robert Frost blithely speaks of his
travels through the woods:
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;

He utilizes rhyme and rhythm to give the poem a feeling of warmth and light-heartedness.
He also utilizes meter by composing four stanzas of five lines each. Each stanza is formed using meter with matching end rhyme adhering to ABAAB form. This works to Frost’s advantage and was an obvious predetermined format for the reader’s ease. With these tactics, Frost incorporates a musical flow to his words, making the reader feel comfortable while serious issues loom within.

The first line of the poem ends with the symbol of a “yellow wood.” This gives feelings of seasonal change as trees turn yellow in autumn. Frost utilized allegory within the setting of change, the predicament of choice, and in order to give everything he writes deeper meaning. Frost looks down one path to see the outcome, but it bends into the undergrowth; meaning one cannot always choose knowing the consequences of their choice but tries his best option.
Frost also personifies the path as, “wanting wear” like he was pulled to choose based upon initial appearance. He admits the paths, “Had worn really about the same.” Frost was conveying that one should not be fooled by first impressions when deciding something and things are not always what they initially seem. Also, one will realize the consequence of his choice only after it is
made.

Dramatic irony lay within the allegory of these lines:
“And both that morning equally lay
In leaves not 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.”
These last two lines simply interpreted mean he would get lost; yet Frost means that whichever choice he made, he would have to live with forever and that physical choice would determine the fate of his inner emotions. The dramatic irony is that he saves the first road for another day when he playfully acknowledges he might never come back so what is the point of saving the first road?!

The last stanza is of extreme significance and very telling in nature:
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.
Frost is saying do not always follow the beaten path, yet he seems to wonder what he missed by choosing the second road. Frost wonders what might have been had he chosen differently, which is human nature. Re-examining the title after reading explains why Frost writes about the path he chose yet titled the piece about the other “road.” There is a sense of purposeful irony.
In the last three lines is a paradox containing the words, “diverged,” and, “difference.” Both words are closely related yet he uses them in different denotations for ironic effect, coincidentally at the end too. This poem has the appearance of a joyful, musical piece. However, when analyzed it becomes apparent that Frost has great respect for choices made in the physical world and their consequences within the human heart. He pulls the reader in with musical flow like the Sirens of mythology, and to the novice it may read happily and leave a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. To the insightful reader, Frost’s tone is mundane and almost remorseful. Frost uses allegory, and other tactics, to amplify the importance that making choices plays in human life. After all, what more is life, and one’s emotions, affected by more than the series of roads he chooses?