Road Not Taken.pdf

Detailed Analysis of the Poem Road Not Taken

1. ROAD NOT TAKEN
Robert Frost

2. Robert Frost (1874-1963)
•was the most popular poet of twentieth century.
•He was born in San Francisco, California on Mar 26, 1874.
•He is a well-known modern poet.
•He is generally regarded as a poet, teacher, and a man of
wisdom.
•Many Americans recognize his name, the titles of and lines
from his best-known poems and even his face and the sound
of his voice.
•He was awarded Pulitzer Prize four times.

3. Robert Lee Frost

4. The most masterful poems of Robert Frost
include
•"The Witch of Coös”
•"Home Burial”
•“Mending Wall”
•"The Most of It”
•"A Servant to Servants”
•"An Old Man's Winter Night"
•"To Earthward”
•"Directive"
•"Neither Out Too Far Nor In Too”
•"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy
Evening”
•“Deep”
•"Provide, Provide”
•“Let's Lean”
•"Spring Pools”
•"Acquainted with the Night”
•"After Apple Picking”
•"The Lovely Shall Be Choosers”
•"Design”
•"Desert"

5. Word Meanings
•Diverged -separated
•Yellow woods -
autumn season
•Undergrowth –lower
part of the forest
•Fair –good
•Grassy –greenery
•Trodden –crush
with the feet
•Sigh –regret or
relief

6. •“TheRoadNotTaken"isanarrativepoembyRobertFrost,
publishedin1916asthefirstpoeminthecollection
MountainInterval.
•Itscentralthemeisthedivergenceofpaths,bothliterallyand
figuratively.
•Theroadsdivergedinawoodandthetravelerwasina
dilemmaastowhichroadheshouldtake.
•Atlasthedecidedtowalkalongagrasscoveredroadless
traveledby.
•Thepoetroundsoffthepoemsayingthathewouldbetelling
thisexperienceofhisagesandageshencebecausehischoiceof
theroadlesstraveledbymadeallthedifferenceinhislife.

8. •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;
•The famous opening lines of "The
Road Not Taken" introduce readers
to the choice the speaker faces.
•The main focus of the poem is, two
roads diverge and the speaker is
unable to travel both and he must
choose between them.
•It's important to notice that the
speaker reveals a sense of sorrow at
having to choose between the two
roads.
•The poet kept standing there and
looked at the path very carefully as
far as he could see it.

9. •Itrepresentsaworldwhichisfullofpeople,wherepeople
havebeenlivingformanyyears.
•Theyrepresentpeoplewhoareolderthanthepoet.
•Thespeaker'sstrugglesetsupsoneofthepoem'smain
themes-theroleofchoiceanduncertaintyinlife.
•Italsorevealssomethingimportantaboutthespeaker's
attitudetowardstheroleofchoiceinlife.
•Thiscanhappeninourlifetoowhenwehavechoicesand
alternatives,butwehavetochooseonlyoneoutofthem.
•Wewilltaketimetothinkabouttheprosandcons,whether
itissuitableforusornotandonlythen,wetakeadecision
onwhatpathweshouldchoose.

10. •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 poet kept on looking at one
path for a long time to check if it
is the right path for him or not
and then he decided and started
walking on another path.
•He says just as fair, so, he felt
that both paths were equally
good and started walking on one
of them.
•He adds that maybe he felt that
the path was better for him so he
chooses it as it had grass on it
which means that it was unused.

11. •Notmanypeoplehadwalkedonthispathearlierthatiswhy
thispathwasgrassy.
•'Andwantedwear'meansthatitwasnotwalkedoverby
manypeople.
•Afterhewalkedonthepathforsomedistance,herealized
thatboththepathshadbeenwornoutthesameway.
•Boththepathsweresimilarandwornout.
•Eveninourlife,wemaytakeanyoptionbutallofthemhave
thesamebenefits,disadvantages,problems,challengesandwe
mustfacethem.

12. •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.
•The poet says that both the
paths were similar that
morning.
•Both had leaves on them and
no one had stepped on them
as they were still green in
colour.
•He decided that day he would
take one path and keep the
other path for another day,
although he knew that one
way leads on to another way.

13. •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.
•Thepoetsaysthatinthefuture,he
willtakeadeepbreathandsaythat
onceuponatimehereachedapoint
inlifewherehehadtomakeone
choice.
•Thereweretwooptionsforhim,and
hehadtooptforone.
•Atthattime,hedecidedtotakethat
roadwhichwaslesstravelledby
people.
•Itmeansthathetookthatdecision
whichrarepeopletake.
•Andthatdecisionhaschangedhis
entirelife.Thepoetsentapowerful
messagethatpeopleshoulddecide
wiselyintheirlifebecausethedecision
theytakewillhaveanimpactonthe
restoftheirlife.

14. Conclusion
There are smooth roads and grass covered roads, the former
refers to easy choices and the latter to the hard choices and it is
the grassy road that the poet opts for and he belongs to the
minority.
The last two lines of the poem are exceptionally ambiguous and
are interpreted differently as expressing pride and regret.
Most people take most travelled road in life because it is not
paved with obstacles and difficulties. Let's Learn Together
As in most of Robert Frost's poem it is written in the language
people speak in their daily lives.

15. 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.

16. •RHYMESCHEME
Wood-Could-stood
Both-undergrowth
abaab
•AlliterationSounddevice
(Repetitionof
sameletterorsoundatthecloselyconnected
words)
Then took the other, as just as fair
Because it wasgrassy and wanted wear
Though as for that the passing there
•

17. •METAPHOR
(symbolicrepresentation)
Road -life
Yellow woods –decisions of men in hard times of life

IMAGERY
(Visualising through images)
Road, route were visualizes
•SIMILE
(Comparison of two ‘like or as’)
‘As just as fair that the passing’ road
•PERSONIFICATION
(Non human objects are portrayed in
a humanistic manner)
‘
Because it was grassy and wanted wear’

18. The classroom was a zoo.
She is a peacock.
My teacher is a lion.
The calm lake was a mirror.
You are my sunshine.
The moon is a white balloon

19. As cold as ice
As sweet as sugar
You were as brave as a lion.
They fought like Tom and Jerry
I wanted to get money, but the ATM
died.
The sun kissed my cheeks when I went
outside.
that picture says a lot

20. I wanted to get money, but the ATM
died.
The sun kissed my cheeks when I
went outside.
that picture says a lot