Text Analysis On'The Road Not Taken'

In language Arts, we were asked to write an essay for our district writing exam. We were given no specific topic to do our essay on, so I chose what I felt was one of my strongest areas of writing, analysis. I chose to do the analysis on not exactly symbolism within the piece, but double meanings, and perhaps what the poet's intent was when he wrote the piece. I do feel writing analysis pieces are one of my stronger areas in writing, however, I feel as though this is one of my weaker overall pieces. I felt as though it was slightly rushed, even though I was given plenty of time. I just feel as though I am trying to fit all of my ideas into too short an essay. Either way, the piece is done, and I have tried my best. Either way one thing is for sure. The words of Robert Frost are  beautifully immortalized in the poem "The Road Not Taken." 

“The Road Not Taken”

Robert Frost

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 marked 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. 

“The Road Not Taken”

Robert Frost

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 marked 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. 

This is perhaps one of the most often misunderstood poems ever written. It is often studied in high school English classes as a piece  written to express feelings of making difficult decisions in life. This is only one way to view the poem. One can either interpret the poem of its literal meaning of making difficult decisions, or one can interpret the piece as being a personal reflection of the author. Though the poem has many different ways to be interpreted, only one thing remains for sure; the poem “The Road Not Taken” remains a timeless classic about either the struggles of making decisions in life, or is a reflection of Frost’s life.

Right from the first line, Frost uses imagery to not only paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind, but to give symbolic meaning to the piece as well. Frost describes the wood as “yellow” in the first line, meaning that the season is autumn, and the wood is shifting colors. It is interesting that Frost chose this particular season, as that autumn is the season associated with dying. (This is not to be confused with winter, which is the season that symbolizes actual death as opposed to dying.) This gives one the sense of fleeting time, which is the way to interpret the poem as making difficult decisions, as we only have a time limit in life, and time is fleeting. The poet then states “And sorry I could not travel both (roads)/And be one traveler, long I stood” which if taken literally is the poet stating that the traveler has come to the fork in the road, and must now choose which path to take. This adds to the overall more popular theme of having to make difficult decisions in life, and shows that we must take our time before we choose which path to take in life.

“And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth;” are the closing lines of the first stanza. Quit literally, it is the traveler peering down the road as far as he can. However, it could also be taken that in life, we may try to look down the paths in the metaphorical “fork in the road in life,” but we can never know for sure which path will lead us where, hence the bend in the growth. Though these lines separately add little meaning to the less popular meaning of the poem of the authors personal reflection of becoming a poet, instead of something more conventional to his time, together they do. If one takes the whole stanza, one can assume it could very likely represent Frost stating how in his life had to make a choice; to either become a poet, or something more conventional. The traveler trying to look down the path is Frost trying to figure out which way to take in the metaphorical road in front of him. Frost has no way of knowing where either metaphorical road will take him, as he has no way of seeing all the way down the paths. With this, the first stanza ends, which then abruptly runs into the next stanza.

With the end of the first stanza, which can literally be taken about making difficult choices in life, or could possibly be the author reflecting about him becoming a poet, the poem then abruptly states “Then took the other, just as fair,” In the more popular version, this could show that the time has run out for making one’s choice, and the traveler has made their choice. However, this is where the poem is often most misunderstood. The name of the piece is The Road Not Taken, and later in the second stanza Frost states, “Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same.” This shows that the roads had been traveled to equal measure, and were equally worn. However, this conflicts with the second to last line in the final stanza, “I took the one less traveled by.” This would make sense with the popular way of interpreting the poem of a symbol of making difficult choices in life. However, the contrast between these two lines is great.

In one of the lines, Frost is describing the road as equally worn in the line from the second stanza, but in the line from the last, he is describing the road he chose as “The road less traveled.” So, we can only assume this is not what the author meant when he wrote the poem. From what we may inference through text evidence, and through research done on the poet’s life, it is safe to assume that the poet could be describing his own life. When Frost says “Had worn them really about the same” this could possibly mean that both paths have been chosen by others, however when he says he chose “the road less traveled” in the final stanza, this could mean that he chose to become a poet instead of something more conventional, and though many people had failed, he succeeded.

Though the meaning of the poem could easily be taken as one of making difficult decisions, it is not the only way to interpret the poem. Frost gives the reader many indications that the poem is in fact a reflection of his own life and experiences as a poet. In the poem, Frost states “the other (road) just as fair” meaning, the other road or “path” in life is just as equal in opportunity. Frost had no way of knowing where this “road” in life would take him, or when he will reach the end of the road, but he chose the road to become a poet in life instead of something more conventional in life. Though the poem has many different ways to be interpreted, only one thing remains for sure; the poem “The Road Not Taken” remains either a timeless classic poem about the struggles of making decisions in life, or is a reflection of Frost’s life.