The Road Not Taken

Choose Your Own Path In life, everyone has choices they face on a day to day basis. Each choice may lead to another choice, and they can result in a positive or a negative consequence that shapes who the person is today. In the poem titled “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost sets up a situation where the narrator faces a dilemma of whether to settle upon one path or another. By using the elements of poem, Frost shows the train of thought and how the thoughts developed to make a decision between the two roads. First of all, one of the key elements used in this poem by Frost is imagery. As an illustration, the author states that the narrator “…looked down one as far as [he] could / To where it bent in the undergrowth;” (4-5). By using the words
“bent” and “undergrowth”, the author paints us an image of a path that is going downhill. In this case, what Frost is trying to portray by using these vivid imagery is that the narrator is uncertain as to where the path leads to. Even though he tried to see where the path led up it, he could not see far because it was going downhill. This image also foreshadows to the reader that the narrator will most likely take the other path because the narrator conveys this particular path as ambiguous. Another key element used by Frost to enhance the meaning of the poem is symbolism. One distinguishing symbol that is brought to attention by the author more than once is the symbol of “Two roads diverged in a wood...” (1, 18). The whole poem talks about how the narrator decided to take one road over the other. The roads might be real, but what the roads represent are choices that people face in real life. So that means that the whole poem is about how the narrator chose to embark on one choice that shaped his life. In addition, the author states that “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back” (15). In the sense of the road, he means that the road is never ending from what he can see. So once he sets foot on one path, he decided it would be wise if he continued on the same path and never returned. What this quote also symbolizes is that the choices that people face on a day to day basis are have an ever-lasting effect of their whole life. Although the process of deciding a choice is simple as a yes or a no, the choice can turn into a commitment and can completely take the person through an incomparable journey. Additionally, the author uses point of view and the speaker to entirely change the effect of the poem.
The poem is a lyric poem, which means that it is in first person and the author uses “I” in the poem to represent the narrator. For instance, “And be one traveler, long I stood” (3). The poem is about one person; however by using the vague word “I,” the author created the effect of any reader being about to relate to the poem. This effect also translates into a deeper and more applicable meaning. And that is that the reader should also take a path that is less traveled because at the end of the poem, the author shows that taking the less traveled path made the difference for the narrator. In other words, take the action taken less often by
others. Moreover, the author utilizes form, also known as structure, to intensify the poem.
Notably in the first stanza, the narrator says that he was “… sorry that [he] could not travel both [roads]” (3). In this quote, the author is asserting that the narrator considered both paths equal and did not want to take just one path and miss out on the other. Then the author goes on to the second stanza and describes the positive aspects of the path that is less taken. He says that the path wanted to be worn and seemed better by just observing it. Moving on to the third stanza, that narrator decides to save the first path for later, while doubting himself that he will come back. Finally, in the last stanza, the narrator asserts himself that he took the right path. By using the form, Frost paints a bigger picture of life that everyone experiences when they are determining which option is best for them. The experience develops just as Frost structured the poem. First, a person looks at the overall view of the two choices. Then the person goes on to see the benefit of one choice, which in turn leads to abandoning the other choice. Lastly, the person affirms that he made the right decision so that he does not have any
regrets. At last, the last type of poetic element that Frost uses is diction along with tone. Throughout the poem, the narrator is more embracing of the second path, the less traveled path and the path he took in the end. This pattern is presented in the poem when the diction used to compare the other path to the path he took. In particular, when the narrator talks about the woods, he speaks in a neutral tone and uses the word “yellow” to describe it. Then when the narrator discusses about the first path, he describes it as “undergrowth.” This specific word sets the tone as something that is not perfect and that there is something wrong with it. In contrast, when the author describes the second path, he uses the color of green to describe it.