Robert Frost Metaphors

“A poem begins with a lump in the throat... A complete poem is one where an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”(Robert Frost). Robert Frost became one of the most famous poets of his time and still is today. In one of his more popular pieces, The Road Not Taken, Frost uses imagery, tone, and metaphors to convey that by making certain decisions will affect you for the rest of your life.
Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. His interest in poetry began in high school and then escalated while attending Dartmouth and Harvard colleges. Although he never earned a formal college degree, Frost began his poetry career by writing his first poem, My Butterfly, at 20 years old. “Frost struggled
for recognition… and stumbled from job to job” (The Columbia History of American Poetry, pg. 262). The first 40 years of his life Frost was unknown; it was not until he came back from living in England that he became famous for his work. After quitting his job as a teacher he and his wife moved to Britain, Frost met everyone who was important in poetry while he was there. He met Ezra Pound and Edward Thomas (who became very close to Frost) who were both influential to his work. He married his wife, Elinor, in 1895, who was also a great inspiration to him until her death in 1938. A historical highlight of Frost's career was being asked by John F Kennedy to speak at his presidential inauguration, making him the first poet to do so. Frost's success was not just measured by presidential requests, but also by his four Pulitzer prizes awarded to him in his lifetime. He published 29 books, filled with original poems, he also produced four plays during his career. At the age of 88, Frost lost his life due to a heart attack in Boston, Massachusetts.
One of his most well known pieces was one he named “The Road Not Taken”. He wrote this piece in 1916, along with some others that were a part of his book “Mountain Interval”. In the poem the speaker is in the woods and comes upon two pathways. They are unsure which one is the better choice; both are equally nice but they finally decide on one because this road is less worn. They say they will save the other for a different day, but knows they will most likely not come back. At the end of the poem the speaker looks back on the choice they made and realizes that the road less traveled by makes all the difference in the world.
Frost was inspired to write this poem because of his good friend, Edward Thomas.
The two often took walks together in the park; one day they discussed their dreams of moving back to America, starting a farm, and writing poetry all day. They both loved the idea, however, Thomas was a very indecisive man. He was at a fork in the road deciding between going with Frost or going off to war. Frost took his situation, therefore creating “The Road Not Taken”.
Edward Thomas finally decided to go off to war due to an encounter that he and Frost had with a local gamekeeper. “Thomas recalled the feeling of fear and cowardice… he vowed that he would never feel that way again” (Article from the Poetry Foundation). This ultimately was the reason for his decision and it made a big difference for him in the end. Deciding on a pathway for yourself is difficult; especially when one of your choices does not include your friends. This is the exact message Frost wanted to reveal in “The Road Not
Taken”.
Throughout this poem Frost has a great use of imagery.
Imagery is very important in this piece because he uses most of the poem to describe the setting. In the very first line, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood”, readers can picture being in the woods during an autumn day and staring at a road that splits in two. Out of any color to represent autumn he chose yellow; yellow is a bright color that represents a bright future. In line 3 the speaker is pondering on what to decide; “long I stood,” he says, readers can picture a puzzled frown on his face. Also in line 12 Frost describes the leaves having no steps on them; here you can imagine a perfect pathway without footprints or tracks on it.
The overall tone of the poem could be described as serious because the speaker is making a difficult decision and is in the process of making that choice throughout the poem. “And sorry I could not travel both… long I stood”, lines 2-3, they are thinking very hard about what they should do. For the most part the tone is serious, but it shifts to a sense of relief after they make their decision. “I shall be telling this with a sigh”, line 16, people often misconceive this “sigh” as a dreadful one. It is a sigh of relief that his decision has been made and they are happy with their
choice.
Frost’s use of metaphor is extraordinary. Every line contains some sort of symbolic and greater meaning. To start off “two roads diverged” portrays a decision to make between two things, which is the whole point of the poem. Then he goes on and writes about looking down both paths as far as he can; which symbolizes that you can only look so far, if not at all, into the future. When he writes about both roads having undergrowth he means that any choice you make will have obstacles and challenges you have to face; in life there is no easy way out. In line 11 Frost mentions that it is morning which represents youth and opportunity; the beginning of the day is like the beginning of a journey. After taking one path the speaker looks back on that morning when he made the decision; meaning when you make a decision in life you look back on it and wonder if it was the right choice. It continues in the following lines (14) when Frost states that “way leads on to way”; meaning that in life you are faced with many decisions to make and after the speaker makes this choice they will be faced with yet another one sooner or later.
Frost enjoyed his time in England, however, after World War I began in August 1914 he and Elinor were forced to come back to America. His career started to take off during this time. His new publisher, Henry Hult, assisted him in publishing Mountain Interval in 1916, which included “The Road Not Taken”. Although it was not his choice to return to America so soon it turned out to be a remarkable opportunity for his poetic career. This choice made all the difference in his life just like the speaker in his poem.
This poem is important because it is very relatable. Everyone goes through life, comes across a difficult situation, and is faced to make strenuous decision. It was chosen because it is pertinent at this time in so many young adult lives. Choosing between colleges, deciding where to work, and making major decisions about what to become in life are all similar to the decisions that Robert Frost must have been thinking about. Standing at a crossroad, looking down each path and trying to choose the best one is something everyone does, even on a daily basis.
Robert Frost certainly knew what it was like to have to make a serious choice; his poem described the process beautifully. People wonder what it is like to be able to take both paths; they picture themselves in both outcomes of their selection. The unforgiving thing about the future i that you don’t know what the outcome will be until you get there. Frost had the benefit of age and wisdom to look back on choices that were made in his life to realize what made all the difference. Only when you are older will you know if you have made all difference from your decisions