THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: ROBERT FROST

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, (a)

And sorry I could not travel both (b)

And be one traveler, long I stood (a)

And looked down one as far as I could (a)

To where it bent in the undergrowth ;( b)

 

Then took the other, as just as fair, (a)

And having perhaps the better claim, (b)

Because it was grassy and wanted wear; (a)

Though as for that the passing there (a)

Had worn them really about the same, (b)

 

And both that morning equally lay (a)

In leaves no step had trodden black. (b)

Oh, I kept the first for another day! (a)

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, (a)

I doubted if I should ever come back. (b)

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh (a)

Somewhere ages and ages hence: (b)

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— (a)

I took the one less traveled by, (a)

And that has made all the difference. (b)

 

1st stanza:

 

In this stanza, the poet describes his walking along a trail through a forest. There the leaves of all the trees had turned yellow. After walking sometimes, he came across a junction. Where the way divided into two paths. It is impossible for a solitary traveler, to travel along both of those paths So, he was compelled to choose one path to walk down. It was not an easy choice to make. For a long time, he stood and looked as far as he could see. He could  see  to the point at which it disappeared among a dense growth of shrubs and other plants along its way.

2^nd stanza:

In the second stanza, the poet describes what he did after inspecting one of the two paths at the diverged point of a forest trail along which he was walking. He could see one path was filled with grass still, but the other path that was almost barren. The poet concluded that every person passing through must have chosen the grass beneath his feet  and therefore, the second path had more grass on it than the first one. It had been less often chosen by other travelers.

    3^rd stanza:

 

    In this stanza, the poet declares  after all consideration about his choice of path. He saw that on the same day he was the maiden traveller walking along that forest. No other traveller had reached that point.So no leaves on either of the paths bore any sign of being blackened by travellers’ footprints. He chose to walk along the second path. The poet left the first one for some other day in the future. However,he was in dilema. Frost knew he might never have the chance to come to that junction again, and consequently, never be able to walk along the first path that he had just turned down.

   

4^th stanza:

In the concluding stanza, the poet opines that choosing the second path for ever, he was probably not contended. He says that after many many tears when he would recapitulate this walking in a forest and his choice of a less travelled path to walk makes something different. The concluding line is ambiguous. Frost keeps it secret whether it was a right choice or incorrect. 

Central Idea of the Poem 

In “The Road Not Taken”, it is clear that every decision should be taken with carefulness, adequate consideration and logic .Once the decision has been made, it can also be recapitulate and you can gain some  insight on it. There will probably lots of doubts and regrets, but you have to be satisfied with the choice you had made .We may face many cross- road throughout our life and we shall have to realize that the decisions we make have consequences, and that some decisions can be permanent.

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