LITERARY ANALYSIS: A FEATURE POEM

KAYJATTA

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: BY ROBERT FROST

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


1. What type of choices do you think the fork in the road represents for the narrator?
The fork in the road represents only a choice to take a chance based on faith and free will since both roads are equally travelled and there is no way of knowing what lies ahead by taking any one particular road. The choice presented here is perhaps a metaphor for the daily challenges of decision making in life. It might also be a reference to fate and predetermination or determinism.

2. What reason(s) does Frost give for choosing the road he chose?
The reason Frost gives for choosing the road he chose is that "it was grassy and wanted wear" (pg. 1801, Line 8), but we know this is bogus because he later said in lines 9 and 10 that both roads are really "...worn about the same"; and "both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black" (Lines 11, 12). Frost has made a life decision about choosing one road over another since he could not travel both roads, and there is no clear reason just like many decisions in life...
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3. Does the sigh signal a sign of relief? Or hesitation that he should have chosen the other path? Why?
I think the 'sigh' signal is not as much a sign of relief or hesitation as such, rather it might be an attempt at self scrutiny and accountability. Frost or the narrator seems to anticipate a future reflection and scrutiny of his decision and perhaps his own interpretation of it as having taken "...the road less traveled by, / ...that has made all the difference" (Lines 19, 20). This interpretation is fraught with bias and insincerity because there is no way of knowing what opportunities he may have missed by not taking the other road....