Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken” depicts an individuals dilemma of making a choice and ultimately taking a risk. The poem consists of four stanzas of five lines. The rhyme schemes are ABAAB. The rhymes are strict and masculine however, the tone notably changes on the last line. A masculine rhyme is a rhyme of final stressed syllables. The uses of the masculine rhyme, allowed too create the tone, and mood of the poem. This rhyme made the poem sound serious and the poet was able to make a solid point. Notably the last stanza does not contain a masculine rhyme. During the poem the tone was serious while the speaker was making a choice and once that choice was made it was as if a big relief fell over his shoulders. Frost also changes the tense from past to future, when changing the tenses he develops an anticipating, predictive tone, which allowed the reader to observe the speakers state of mind. By doing this, the poet completely changed the mood and the tone of the poem. Frost was able to achieve this by not making the last line masculine and changing tenses. …show more content…
Personification gives human characteristics to non-living things. In the eighth line “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (8), Frost states that the paths wanted wear, but paths cannot want only humans/animals can want. Thus, this line is personification, which intensifies the mood. It is a positive feeling and the speaker finds the need too choose that path. The poem illustrates an imagery of two roads, which symbolizes the two alternative choices the speaker faces in life. The speaker has to make an ultimatum on what he chooses to do with his life. He can either decide to take the road that most
The published version of this poem is not the same as the one Frost originally wrote. The original poem was much longer and Frost left out entire stanzas from the original poem. Frost wrote this because he afraid of what the world was turning into because of political reasons. Frost didn't publish the original poem in fear that because he was such a popular poet that many people would think there was something wrong with the world.
"The Road Not Taken" (1916) is one of Robert Frost's most famous poems in which he presents the personal conflicts that he may have had to overcome throughout his lifetime to get to where he is. Frost is able to gain insight and inspiration from the natural surroundings that have helped to guide him and shape who he is.
The four time Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Robert Frost, is well known for his picturesque portrayal of rural lifestyle, focusing mainly on the New England region of the United States. “The Road Not Taken”, published in 1916 is one of his earliest written and most highly praised works. It is considered a masterpiece of American Literature and its content is frequently studied by high school and college students to this day. The poem is a closed frame narrative type consisting of four stanzas with a rhyme scheme of ABAAB. While being the most popular of the numerous poems written by Robert Frost, it has also been one of the most misinterpreted and openly interpreted poems of his
The traveller finds himself on a fork in the road and wishes that he could travel both. This being physically and figuratively a non-possibility, is recognised by the traveller and the idea is immediately rejected. The slight contradiction can be noted in the second stanza when one road is described as “grassy and wanted wear” and soon after the traveller conveys that the two roads are worn in almost the same manner. In the second stanza, Robert Frost utilises personification giving the road human characteristics. The "wanted wear" is a distinctively human characteristic and consequently personifies the path, giving it desires. This is purposefully done as the path itself embodies the act of making a choice which is also uniquely human. Frost builds on the/enhances the imagery created in this poem in the third stanza and the traveller distinguishes that the leaves on both roads fell recently and had not been marched upon and suggests that he should return and take the first road another time. The traveller is not sure whether he would be able to accomplish this desire as he comes to a realisation that life is quite short and as the decision he made would lead to other choices and
The last stanza, Robert Frost uses a number of poetic techniques, in order to demonstrate the fear and regrets as he already made which path to go and now, there’s no turning back. In the first line onomatopoeia was used and
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic poem of the complications people must face in the course of their lives. Although it is not difficult to understand the meaning of the poem through it’s title, it is however hard to interpret what the author means when he describes the roads. Throughout the poem, the two roads appear similar at times and different at others. He uses free imagery to make his poem more complex for the audience.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both.” This is the first line of the opening stanza of Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken.” The traveler in this story has been walking down a path and come to two diverging roads. Thus, creating a situation in which the traveler must make a decision. This poem is often misinterpreted by readers and critics. The poem is entertaining, but it is not as deep and profound as many people believe. I interpret the poem as a reflection of the uncertainties of life, but in a humorous way.
The poetic techniques were symbolism, imagery, and tone. Symbolism is the most powerfully used technique due to the fact a good number of lines located in this poem is used to signify a certain object or idea related to our life or today’s world. Imagery in the sense that you can visualize the path, the yellow wood, the undergrowth, the divergence; it is all made very vivid. Frost did this throughout; you know trying to stimulate the reader’s mood using one’s senses. In this poem, imagery permits the reader to imagine the scene that this poem takes place in resulting in an enhanced understanding of the theme. The tone Frost’s work presents is an insecure attitude which allows the theme to be brought out due to the fact the theme relates to a dilemma in one’s life. These techniques strongly aid in the revealing of this specific theme.
This poem places the reader directly inside of Frost and the decisions that he has made throughout his life. Ultimately we cannot tell if he regrets his decisions or if he is better off for making them. Or is he just conflicted about choosing an overall emotion because his decisions in life have varied so much? This is extremely similar to the common man’s ideals of how his life could have been altered through a difference in a few choices. This poem discusses the morality of human choices and how it effects our entire lives as well as others. He seems like he has reflected on his life and that he is happy to have made it this
The poet tells this with a sigh that what will happen later with his choice. He has selected the road which is less travelled. That is the difference between the first road and second road. There is an adventurous spirit in his decision.
From the poetry devices, we can see the literariness and the meaning of the poem. The choice that the persona made in front of the two diverging roads impacts the rest of his journey. Same as the persona, people are just like that traveler, traveling on the journey of life. The journey consists of many roads. Different choices on different roads lead to different destination and impact the rest of
First, my thought is the two roads were not actually roads but choices for this person: live or die. “and be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one
Chapter 9, Primary Reading: “Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, 1916” (pg.361) 1. In this poem, Robert Frost illustrates to the reader a difficult decision that he faces. In a literal context, the decision that has blurred his judgement is a fork in the road which divides two separate paths. Unfortunately, he cannot see down either path to determine which one leads to a better location. In a metaphorical context, the two “paths” are in fact two different decisions that the poet can make in his life.
The poem “The Road Not Taken” was written by Robert Frost and includes a very interesting hidden meaning. Such a meaning is a lie told by the narrator that he says to himself to make himself feel proud. In this poem there is also an interesting narrator. He makes it feel as if this poem was written about you, the reader. In addition, Robert Frost uses symbolism to mark the different life choices by making them into two roads.
The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, is a poem that has many meanings depending on the reader. The poem was published in 1916 and it is a very interesting poem. It’s a fairly short poem consisting of only 20 lines, and it is full of metaphors and imagery and it has many ways that it can be interpreted. The poem’s use of imagery leaves the reader trying to figure out what Frost meant when he wrote the poem. Since it is a poem, it generally has no correct way to interpret it, but it usually has a similar meaning for everyone. This is my analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.