The Road Not Taken Summary & Themes

poetry4

1. Robert Lee Frost  (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963) was an American poet. His work was initially published in England before it was published in America.  His work frequently employed settings from rural life in  New England  in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes. One of the most popular and critically respected American poets of the twentieth century Frost was named  Poet laureate  of  Vermont . "The Road Not Taken" is a  poem published in 1916 as the first poem in the collection  Mountain Interval . The poem may be the most widely recognized of all poems

2. 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; 1 Summary , On the road of life, the speaker arrives at a point where he must decide which of two equally appealing (or equally intimidating) choices is the better one. He examines one choice as best he can, but the future prevents him from seeing where it leads

3. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, 2 Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 3 Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same Summary The speaker selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn.

4. 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 Summary : Leaves cover both roads equally. No one on this morning has yet taken either road, for the leaves lie undisturbed. The speaker remains committed to his decision to take the road he had previously selected, saying that he will save the other road for another day. He observes, however, that he probably will never pass this way again and thus will never have an opportunity to take the other road .

5. I shall be telling this with a sigh 4 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. S ummary: In years to come, the speaker says, he will be telling others about the choice he made. While doing so, he will sigh either with relief that he made the right choice or with regret that he made the wrong choice. Whether right or wrong, the choice will have had a significant impact on his life.

6. The Rhyme Scheme: The rhyme scheme of the poem is as follows: (1) abaab , (2) cdccd , (3) efeef , (4) ghggh . All of the end rhymes are masculine—that is, each consists of a single syllable. (You may have noticed that the last word of the poem, difference , has more than one syllable. However, only the last syllable completes the rhyme with hence in line 22. Therefore, masculine rhyme occurs.)

7. Themes Individualism .......The speaker chooses to go his own way, taking the “road less traveled” (line 19). Caution .......Before deciding to take the "road less traveled" (line 19), the speaker takes time to consider the other road. He says, "[L] ong I stood / And looked down one as far as I could" (lines 3-4). Commitment .......The speaker does not have second thoughts after making his decision . Accepting a Challenge .......It may be that the road the speaker chooses is less traveled because it presents trials or perils. Such challenges seem to appeal to the speaker. .

8. The end

9. S tudents N ames : Narjes T aip Elham Alharthy Fatima Omar

10. References : http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-road-not-taken-summary-theme.html http:// cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides2/RoadNot.html https :// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Road_Not_Taken