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Transcript

The Road Not Taken

The Road Not Taken

by Robert Frost

Poem and Analysis

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.

Structure

The poem is structured in 4 stanzas of 5 lines. Each has a rhyme pattern of ABAAB, which makes it less sing-songy and more serious than a classic ABAB or AABB pattern would sound.

The lines are about the same length, which makes the poem have a very even rhythm.

Meaning

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the moment in which the speaker chooses to go down one road in the woods and not another. Although the two roads are about the same, the speaker thinks that taking this less-traveled road will be instrumental in their life. This poem’s meaning is famously ambiguous. Some interpret the speaker’s final line as a serious piece of advice to choose the road less traveled because it can change one’s life. I think this poem actually reveals that people like to think meaningless choices are more important than they are. The speaker gives a dramatic “sigh” and says that this one simple choice “has made all the difference,” when it’s clear the two paths were about the same, and the choice wasn’t that important.

Imagery

The first few stanzas contain imagery of the “yellow wood” which helps the reader imagine a dense, quiet forest in autumn.

This contributes to the calm mood of the poem. He isn't choosing between a life or death situation, he's just taking a nice walk.

Imagery

Language

Frost uses simple, formal diction. It is straightforward and easy to understand what he is saying. This relates to the straightforwards concept of the poem--he has two choices and must choose. It's not a dramatic moment, so the language is not dramatic either.

He does not use much figurative language. He uses a slight hyperbole in the final stanza when the speaker says, “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence” to exaggerate how far off in the future he’s thinking.

Emotion

Overall, the tone is thoughtful and reflective, at first in a doubtful way when talking about which path to go down, then confident at the end when talking about how important this choice was.

The mood is calm and mellow, due to the imagery of the yellow wood. I can empathize with the speaker, since I often feel the same way about choices.

College Choice

My Poem

Two letters stared up from my kitchen table,

And sorry I could not choose two

And be one student, I felt unable

To make a choice that felt so stable

Without thinking what others would do.

My dad might choose one

And my mom the other

Dad would like the fun

And being close to everyone

But it’d be too far for my mother.

In my romantic heart I thought of Jake

We only had one school we’d shared

Would long distance make us break?

Would I lie in bed awake

Wondering if he still cared?

But I knew if I looked back with regret

And blamed the one whose advice I took,

I would constantly worry and fret.

So I weighed the options until my mind was set,

Looking back, I can’t imagine doing it different, and yet…

"How do we really make decisions?"

by Toby Macdonald

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-26258662

News Connection

"With every decision you take, every judgement you make, there is a battle in your mind - a battle between intuition and logic.

And the intuitive part of your mind is a lot more powerful than you may think.

Most of us like to think that we are capable of making rational decisions. We may at times rely on our gut instinct, but if necessary we can call on our powers of reason to arrive at a logical decision.

We like to think that our beliefs, judgements and opinions are based on solid reasoning. But we may have to think again."

How this Connects

Explanation

This article describes the two ways our brain makes decisions. The first system makes decisions through logical, deliberate, and conscious effort. The second, much more common, way we make decisions is through a more automatic, intuitive process that is very fast and unconscious. The two interact in interesting ways. The article states, “Most of the beliefs or opinions you have come from an automatic response. But then your logical mind invents a reason why you think or believe something” (Macdonald). Just like the speaker in “The Road Not Taken” thinks the decision to choose the path he did was meaningful, our logical side of our brain likes to attribute meaning to things that were decided very quickly by our intuitive side.

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