Poem #2: A Road Not Taken
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;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no 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.
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.
Literary Devices:
There is an abundance of literary devices in this poem. Imagery is used to create the scene of a person standing at a fork in the roads, deciding on which one to use. There is also symbolism, because this poem is not just talking about a person choosing which road to take, but it is talking about someone taking a life decision and pondering about it. There are also many metaphors in this poem, the first one being the two roads. These two roads are the two choices the person in this poem has to choose between (because could not travel both). In line #5 ("To where it bent in the undergrowth.") which is comparing a bend in the road to a decision that might turn bad in the future. In line #12 ("In leaves no step had trodden black."), they are comparing the unused roads to decisions that not many others have taken. In line #14 & 15("Yet know how way leads on to way."), you can see that Frost is comparing how roads lead to other roads to how bad choices can leader to even worse choices and he is scared to even take the choices with line #15 (I doubted if I should ever come back."). In the final two lines, Frost is comparing the choices that was taken by less was the one that made a difference. We do not know if the outcome of the difference was good or bad, but I infer that it was a good decision.
Analysis:
This poems reflects upon someone who is taking a big life decision and is deciding. The poem starts off with someone finding that two roads had diverged and he had decide on one to take because he could not take both. He look down one of the roads to see that it bent in the undergrowth. This means that he was looking to his future with that choice and saw that that it would bend in the undergrowth, which could mean that the bend will lead to something bad or good but it is not known for that choice. He then looks to other road/choice, and said "Because it was grassy and wanted wear." which meant that this choice was the one less chosen because it "wanted wear" unlike the other choice. But both the choices were worn about the same, which means that both choices are roughly equally chosen. On that particular day, it seemed that no-one had walked though the roads because "In leaves no step had trodden black." which means that the choices hadn't been chosen as frequently. In line #14-15, he says that he might not even choose the two choices because of how one bad choice can lead to another. In line #17 ("Somewhere ages and ages hence."), you can see that the person is writing about his experiences, and is not actually "in" them. In the final two lines, he said he took the choice that was less chosen out of the two, and that made all the difference. The poem does not say if it was a good or bad difference, but I infer that it was a good choice.
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;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no 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.
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.
Literary Devices:
There is an abundance of literary devices in this poem. Imagery is used to create the scene of a person standing at a fork in the roads, deciding on which one to use. There is also symbolism, because this poem is not just talking about a person choosing which road to take, but it is talking about someone taking a life decision and pondering about it. There are also many metaphors in this poem, the first one being the two roads. These two roads are the two choices the person in this poem has to choose between (because could not travel both). In line #5 ("To where it bent in the undergrowth.") which is comparing a bend in the road to a decision that might turn bad in the future. In line #12 ("In leaves no step had trodden black."), they are comparing the unused roads to decisions that not many others have taken. In line #14 & 15("Yet know how way leads on to way."), you can see that Frost is comparing how roads lead to other roads to how bad choices can leader to even worse choices and he is scared to even take the choices with line #15 (I doubted if I should ever come back."). In the final two lines, Frost is comparing the choices that was taken by less was the one that made a difference. We do not know if the outcome of the difference was good or bad, but I infer that it was a good decision.
Analysis:
This poems reflects upon someone who is taking a big life decision and is deciding. The poem starts off with someone finding that two roads had diverged and he had decide on one to take because he could not take both. He look down one of the roads to see that it bent in the undergrowth. This means that he was looking to his future with that choice and saw that that it would bend in the undergrowth, which could mean that the bend will lead to something bad or good but it is not known for that choice. He then looks to other road/choice, and said "Because it was grassy and wanted wear." which meant that this choice was the one less chosen because it "wanted wear" unlike the other choice. But both the choices were worn about the same, which means that both choices are roughly equally chosen. On that particular day, it seemed that no-one had walked though the roads because "In leaves no step had trodden black." which means that the choices hadn't been chosen as frequently. In line #14-15, he says that he might not even choose the two choices because of how one bad choice can lead to another. In line #17 ("Somewhere ages and ages hence."), you can see that the person is writing about his experiences, and is not actually "in" them. In the final two lines, he said he took the choice that was less chosen out of the two, and that made all the difference. The poem does not say if it was a good or bad difference, but I infer that it was a good choice.