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. (Frost 1-5)On the surface, Robert Frosts poem is a story about a walk on a wooded road, but it had deeper meaning to him and how he feels about the road. Also, the poem has a universal meaning about life and the choices it presents. Further, the poem is magnificently written in Frosts own created rhyme style.
Lastly, a sigh might just be a sigh to some, but in this piece it means much more to Frost. Frosts 1916 poem The Road Not Taken is an example of how Frost writes poetry enthralling the reader with a grand opening and an unexpected ending that must be thoroughly analyzed. Frost wrote The Road Not Taken while living in Gloucestershire, England in 1914 though he was an American citizen. His friend Edward Thomas and he would often go on walks so that Thomas could show him special plants or sights. When Thomas would choose a path, it was certain that every time he would regret the choice he had made sighing that they should have taken a better direction (Banerjee and Shefali 1).
When Frost wrote this he supposedly pretended to carry himself as Thomas just long enough to write the poem. Furthermore, Frost first wrote the poem as almost a joke for Thomas. Later it held more value for him though, as an example of life choices. The Road Not Taken is literally a story about a walk on a road one fall morning.
The title even tells of the idea that a choice has been made before reading the poem. The opening line tells how the road broke into a y. This simple y in the road alludes also to Frosts first line of the poem and his choice of yellow (y) to describe the fall trees. This is a simple natural symbol but, when looked into further, shows how he is looking to the winter, the future, which is a harsh season. Frost talks about the two roads and how they are the same, comparing them. Road A twists beneath the undergrowth, which alludes to a hard trail ahead.
Countless obstacles are on this walk that may catch the narrator. Road B is straight, grassy, open, and sunny, showing that the walk will be nice and easy. No one else is on the road with the narrator. He is alone, contemplating the decision by himself. The ultimate decision that is going to be made by the narrator as to which equally worn road to take with no help from anyone. He knows that the road he takes will lead him forever, foreshadowing that the choice he does makes could be a regret or satisfaction.
Frost then said in the present tense last stanza that the narrators choice was the one less traveled by (20). This simple statement has significant importance, for he contradicts himself. Frost was unable to tell if anyone had walked the roads; yet the one less traveled was chosen, when in actuality it is the one more traveled by because the narrator traveled it. The road in the poem is not just a road; it is a symbol of choices in our lives.
Frost implies that the narrator is sorry that he could not take both roads and see two different outcomes before the decision is made. The outcomes can not be seen, though looking as far as he could, the road would either bend and disappear into the undergrowth or go until the eye could see no further. He says to himself three times in the poem that both roads are equal, but in the final outcome he chooses the one less traveled, wanting wear (Frost 8). The narrator saying this to himself three times definitely gives the impression that he has time and is in no hurry to make a decision since only one road may be taken, one decision made, and one final destiny for a lifetime. No one will make .
