The poem that I chose to write about is called The Road Not Taken, written by Robert Frost. This particular poem was published in 1916 in the collection Mountain Interval. It is the first poem in the volume. The poem consists of four stanzas of iambic tetrameter. Mr. Frost uses the rhyme scheme A, B,A, A, B rhyming the words wood, stood, could, both, and undergrowth. I was particularly drawn to this poem because every day we are all faced with different decisions and different paths to take. Making that choice can be hard but at the end of the day we can only choose our destiny.
From the
beginning the speaker is contemplating which road he should travel down.
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
He is stating
that he is at a split in the road and isn’t too sure on which path he should
take. The speaker feels regret because he is not able to travel down both paths
at the same time, instead, he looks down one path as far as he could see. This
is a metaphor for his life in the sense that he is trying to see in his future.
But, since he can’t predict the future he can only see part way down one path. After
I had read line two I thought about my own life and how every day I am faced
with a different decision but I can only take one path.
In the second
stanza the speaker still seems very uncertain about the path he chose to take.
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.
The speaker
finally chose a path but it wasn’t the one he looked down for so long, he
decided to take the other. He continues to go back and forth about which
path is better and in line 10 he admits they are both the same. No matter what
path he could have chosen the outcome of his life will be good either way
because he has to make it that way.
In the third
stanza he reiterates that both paths are equal. In his mind he is telling
himself that he can always go back and go down the other path if the path he is
on isn’t the one he was really meant to choose. The poem takes a slight turn in
stanza four because it jumps to the future. He is rehashing his memory of
taking the road less traveled and how it made all the difference.
In conclusion, I
love this poem because it shows no matter what road one may choose in their
life the outcome lies within you. No one can make your life happy but you. Just
because you choose a different path doesn’t mean it’s the wrong one. Life is
all about choices and experiences
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