The road not taken summary and theme free#
On the one hand, it represents free will and agency, and on the other hand, it describes life itself. Like the two roads moving in different directions, the poem presents two contrasting ideas within it. The possibility of reading the title and the poem in these two ways can also be connected with the image of the diverging roads. The speaker is happy about choosing the road less traveled by as it gave him mesmerizing experiences, or in remorse as his decision was fatal.
The sigh in the poem is considered a sigh of relief and a sigh of regret. Similarly, the term “sigh” used in the final stanza of the poem is read in multiple ways. In this case, the title seems to urge people to choose paths different from the crowd. He gives importance to free-will and determination. They claim that Frost is referring to the road that is not usually taken by people. However, some other critics equate the title with the “road less traveled by” mentioned in the poem’s final stanza. Taking this into account, some critics claim that Frost is referring to the road he never tried. Frost wrote this poem based on one of their walks in which Thomas lamented not choosing the other path. The poem’s primary title was “Two Roads,” and later, Frost changed it to “The Road not Taken.” Frost wrote the poem as a joke to his friend Edward Thomas, who often regretted his choices. Also, it depicts that the results of our choices can have positive or negative overtones.Ĭritics have made varying comments upon the title of the poem as well. Even in life, when we choose between two things, we ought to miss something even if we feel that our decision is the best. It subtly presents that whichever path one chooses, they will miss something on the other. Though overtly, the poem appears to guide a person about making life choices, this impression given in it is ironic. The poem “The Road not Taken,” published in the poetry collection Mountain Interval, received much critical attention due to its ambiguous and ironic nature. He would also exclaim that his decision to choose the road less traveled caused the differences in his life. He says that he might think about this choice with a sigh in his life. In the final stanza, the speaker describes the future. Nevertheless, there is a contradiction in the next line as the speaker says that a return to the first road is least probable as roads give way to another. The speaker also says that he has kept aside the first road to be traveled some other day. It was because the people did not walk over it. He states that both the roads were filled with leaves and had not turned black. He recalls the paths as he saw them in the morning. However, as he moved on, he understood that the two roads were worn out equally.
According to the speaker, this path was more appealing and had a better claim. He had to try hard to see through the road as it was bending, and the trees were blocking the view.Īfter a certain amount of contemplation, the speaker chooses the grassy path that is less worn out. So, the speaker stood staring at the road for a long time and tried to see where the paths lead. The speaker feels sorry as he cannot travel two roads simultaneously and has to choose one among the two roads. At some point in his walk, he sees a road diverging into two. The poetic persona is walking through the woods, whose leaves have turned yellow and began to fall. The Road Not TakenĪnd that has made all the difference. The poem subtly delights as well as indulges the reader in an inquiry. Similarly, “The Road not Taken” has blended images from life and nature to explain a person’s dilemma when they have to take a crucial turn in his/her life. Most of the poems written by Robert Frost reflect social and philosophical themes such as individualism, nature, isolation, morality, the quest for self-knowledge, and everyday struggles. The poem compares a person’s life choices with two diverging roads in the woods and explains how choosing the road less traveled makes a difference. His poem “The Road not Taken,” published in 1916, is one of his masterpieces, and it describes the nature of choices one makes in life. Robert Frost was a 20th-century American poet who was well-known for his realistic portrayal of nature and country life.
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