The Road Not Taken

Read below our complete notes on the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. Our notes cover The Road Not Taken summary, themes, and a detailed literary analysis.

Background of the Poem

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem by Robert Frost. It was published in The Atlantic Monthly in August 1915. This poem was used as an opening poem of Robert Frost’s collection Mountain Interval in 1916. It presents a narrator who is recalling his journey through the forest when he had to choose between two divergent roads. This poem is one of the most well-known and most often misunderstood poems of Robert Frost. 

Frost’s Inspiration for “The Road Not Taken”

The inspiration of “The Road Not Taken” came when Frost noticed a familiar habit of his close friend in England, Edward Thomas. Frost used to frequently take long walks with Thomas through the countryside. Edward Thomas, an English-Welsh poet, would always regret not taking the other path. Thomas would always sigh over what they would have seen if they had taken the other path. Thomas would think that if they had chosen the other path, it might have offered them many opportunities to see and experience nature. 

At such times of regret, Frost would always tell Thomas that “It does not matter what road you take. You will always regret and wish you had taken the other one.” In this way, Frost wrote this poem to be a light-hearted one but it turned to be more serious and ambiguous for readers. 

Historical Context

There were different historically significant events going on in 1916. Therefore, it is not possible to identify one specific meaning as the one that the poet had in mind. When this poem was written, things of great importance were occurring in the poet’s life and social order. Firstly, in 1916, an act of Congress made “The National Park Services” to keep millions of acres of the forest land safe for the enjoyment of future generations. 

Secondly, Albert Einstein came up with his theory of relativity which claimed that things are dependent on relative circumstances and not on absolute knowledge. The end result of any choice that a person makes is not absolute. This affected the thinking of people to a great extent. They started treating events and feelings relative. The pleasing connection with nature and one’s personal feelings regarding one’s future are the main subjects of this poem. 

Industrial Revolution and World War I

The industrial revolution in the late 1800s brought advances in international commerce through advances in travel and communication. It became difficult for economic powers like the U.S. and Japan to stay uninvolved. The American public wanted no involvement in World War I. It was a year after this poem was published when America had to choose between joining the war. 

When Frost and his family went home, England was already at war. The central subject of “The Road Not Taken” reflects the position of the two countries where Frost had lived. Britain joined other countries in the fight and America tried to stay away from it. Each side has a good reason to choose their path and face the consequences. 

Urbanization

The relation between people and society is the central core of “The Road Not Taken.” The poet asks the question of whether one must follow the footsteps of the majority or the least traveled path. In 1916, this question was part of the debate. Industrialization was the dominant social force in the last half of the nineteenth-century. 

As factories went up, people came to cities to get jobs. Immigrants from other countries came for the same reason. The cities started to construct new quarters for the coming families. These living quarters were made together on top of one another. It created a frustrating situation for those people who came from open lands. 

By 1916, artists, philosophers, and other sensitive people started questioning the depersonalizing effects of urbanization and industrialization. They were worried about the situation that has changed the nature of human thinking. People followed what the majority was doing and they lost connection with themselves and nature as well. They couldn’t decide on their own and they relied on others for prosperity. This poem raises the question regarding individuality and independence. 

The Road Not Taken Summary

The speaker of the poem walks through a forest where trees have shed their yellow leaves in autumn. He reaches a junction where the road becomes two diverging roads. The speaker is one person; therefore, he regrets that he cannot travel both roads. He stands at the fork in the road for a long time. He tries to see where one of the paths does go. The speaker cannot see very far because the forest is dense. Also, the road is not straight. 

The speaker then takes the other path. He judges the second path as good a choice as the first one. He considers it a better option of the two since it is grassy. The path chosen by the speaker is also less worn than the first path. When the speaker starts walking on the second road, he thinks that the two paths are more or less equally ragged. 

The speaker recalls that both roads were covered with leaves in the morning. These leaves had not been yet turned black by foot walks. He exclaims that he is saving the first road and will travel it some other day. Immediately, the speaker contradicts his statement with the recognition that in one’s life, one road leads to another road. Therefore, it is unlikely to say that he will ever get a chance to come back to the first road. 

The speaker visualizes his distant future when he will be narrating, with a sigh, the story of his choosing which road to travel. The speaker speaks as if he is looking back from his future at the present choice. He says that he had to choose between two roads, and he chose the one which was less traveled. The speaker from the future says that the result of that selection between roads has made all the differences in the speaker’s life. 

Themes in the Poem

Fate

The central theme of the poem appears when the speaker faces crossroads. The first line of the poem says that “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” It is a classic conceit for a life decision. The speaker then begins to consider the two options. He tries to select a better choice. However, Frost’s poem claims that our choices are less real than we think. Our power to perceive meaningful differences among options is negligible—the two roads are “as just as fair.” 

According to the poem, fate constantly guides us to take a step forward despite our attempts to exercise free will. Our choices fall inferior to our fate which decides all.

Choices and Uncertainty

In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker describes himself as a confused person who is facing a situation to choose between two roads. The speaker’s choice acts as an extended metaphor for all the choices that every individual must make in life. Through the speaker’s experience, the poem describes the nature of choices and the situation when a person is forced to choose.

The speaker’s first emotion is “sorrow,” as he regrets the reality that it is impossible to “travel both” roads or to experience both things. The poem explores that every choice demands the loss of opportunity. Also, choices are painful because they are made with incomplete information. 

The speaker seeks to collect as much information as possible by observing “down one (road) as far as I could.” However, there is a limit to what the speaker can see and the rest of the things are out of his sight. The speaker has not enough information about which one path is the right one. No one can truly predict what each choice will bring. This poem reflects the anxiety that everyone experiences whenever they step forward on a new road in life. 

After making a final choice, one loses the opportunity to experience the things that are not chosen. The choice of one thing cuts off the knowledge of the alternate choice. It leaves one with uncertainty and they never know if they had made the right choice.

The final line of the poem is a reminder that one’s choices in life make all the difference. It is the choice that gives identity to a person. 

Individualism and nonconformity 

In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker has to choose between two roads. He chooses the one which is less traveled. The choice between the two roads can be treated as a conventional choice versus unconventional choice. By selecting the less-traveled path, the speaker shows that he values individualism over conformity

While deciding which road to take, the speaker notes that the second is “just as fair” as the first. However, the less worn-out state of the road makes the speaker choose it. Notably, the absence of signs of travel on the chosen path is taken positively rather than negatively. Rather than saying that the road looked as if it had not traveled much, the speaker states that it was “grassy”. Being grassy shows it is the result of a very few people walking on it. The speaker also says that the second road “wanted wear.”

It means that the road itself demanded to walk on it. In this way, the speaker suggests that nonconformity is a positive trait. It also shows that popularity makes things less attractive.

Despite the speaker’s suggestion for nonconformity, the poem remains ambiguous about whether the grassy road will lead to something better. In this way, firstly, the poem states that it is hard to identify what is non-conformist. After choosing the road, the two roads seem about the same. It confuses the speaker more that he does not know if the road was less traveled. The speaker seems to sense that though he or she has attempted to take the road “less traveled,” there’s no actual way to know if it was less traveled.

Secondly, the poem subtly suggests that no guarantee choosing a less walked path will make a positive difference. There is also a third opinion offered by the poem as well. The speaker says that selecting the path made all the differences. It is not the path that makes the difference because no one can truly measure which path is traveled less. The difference is made by choosing a direction that is not conventional. In this way, the poem teaches that it is one’s effort that matters.

Making meaning

This poem suggests that it is less important to think if the speaker’s choice made all the difference from what he believes that it did. People create a fictional version of their lives by making beliefs and meaning when they are not there. However, this poem does not consider meaning-making as deceitful but rather as a part of human life.

Indecision

Another theme in this poem is indecision. In reality, the speaker of the poem has to choose to travel one road between the two. However, he overthinks and procrastinates. He tries to look for all the experiences he has to face on each road. At last, he decides to take the one that was grassy and less traveled. After making the decision, the speaker still concerns his future and the consequences of his choice. If it was one road, it would be easier for him to travel immediately. Similarly, people face such a situation in their lives, and therefore, they confront indecisiveness. 

Self-belief

The speaker in the poem decides to choose the road himself. He does not rely on someone else to direct him. The speaker seems to have confidence in himself. Therefore, he puts himself responsible for all the consequences in the future regarding his choice in the present. 

This poem suggests that one should have faith in one’s self. Such quality of independent decision- making helps people learn many things. They start valuing their intuition. They build confidence in explaining their decision. In this way, trust in one’s self develops. 

The Road Not Taken Literary Analysis

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem about the struggles of the speaker to decide which one of the two roads he must choose. It has both literal and metaphorical meanings. The two roads symbolize two directions in life to follow. This poem highlights those moments in life when it is necessary to take a firm decision without enough information.

This poem questions a person’s free will and determinism. The speaker in the poem consciously decides which way he has to go. He rejects the path with the bend in it. Also, external factors play an important role in his decision-making process.

This poem is about the sacrifices that one has to make. To make a difference, a person has to prefer one option over another and belief in him.

Lines 1-5

The poet travels on foot in the woods. He reaches a junction where two roads diverged. Suddenly, he realizes that as a single traveler, he can’t travel both roads. Here, two roads are used as a metaphor for two ways of life. The forest is yellow, which means that it is autumn and the trees are shedding their yellow leaves.

As the speaker can’t travel both the roads, he stands there to try to select which path he is going to travel to. However, the poet wants to go down both roads. He is thinking about it hard. He is looking down one road. He tries to see where it goes. The thickness of the woods blocks the view of the speaker. Also, the road is bent in shape and not linear.

Lines 6-10

The phrase “as just as it is fair” means righteous and equal. This phrase is an example of a simile. The speaker decides to examine the other path because he finds the other road to be less traveled and full of grass

“Wanted wear” is an example of personification. The speaker has personified the grassy road and says that it wanted people to walk on it.

After traveling through the road, the speaker explores that both the roads are equally traveled. At first, the speaker finds the first road to be the more traveled one. Then, he says that both the roads seem equally traveled. The phrase ‘as for that” refers to the road being less worn.

Lines 11-15

Here, the speaker finds that both the paths are looking the same in the morning. After this, he goes in the flashback. It was a tough decision for him to choose the real road because, in the morning, he was the first person who walked on the road. There were no other footsteps. For this reason, he couldn’t decide the right path immediately as no step had left marks on the leaves on the roads to show him the right road. In these lines, the speaker has used imagery.

The poet exclaims that he saves the first passage for another time. He knows that “way leads” to another, and then another. He knows that in this way, one ends up very far from where one has started the journey. The poet here saves the first road for another day. Additionally, the speaker doesn’t think he will ever be able to come back and take the other path to experience it.

Lines 16-20

This stanza shows the speaker’s failure in choosing the right path. The word ‘sigh’ suggests that he will be disappointed with the decision. He accepts that he will be responsible if he fails in taking the right decision. “Ages and ages” is an example of alliteration.

The poet took the road that no one else did and it made the difference in his life that made him unique. One’s individualism matters. Nevertheless, a “difference” may mean success or complete failure.

Mood and tone

It is important to understand the difference between tone and mood. The tone of the poem is how the author of the work feels about it. One can identify it by examining the diction of the work. The diction of the poem is descriptive.

By using words like “diverged,” “sorry,” and “sigh,” the tone of the poem is about longing and meditation. This poem is reflective and thoughtful. The speaker is confused between two options. It is a turning point in the life of the speaker. He has to choose one path and leave behind the other forever.

The speaker is thinking about the pros and cons of the situation. The decision needs a serious approach to consider the outcomes of each choice.  

The mood of the poem is related to the readers and their feelings about the poem. In this way, the mood of the poem is somber and anxious in the beginning but hopeful at the end.

Narrative poem

“The Road Not Taken” is a narrative poem. It has a character, setting, plot, and conflict. The conflict in the poem is the indecisiveness of the persona of the poem.

Point of View

“The Road Not Taken” is narrated from the first-person point of view. The speaker describes his experience by representing himself as “l.” It enables readers to understand the speaker’s feelings and thoughts.

Style, structure, and Rhyme

“The Road Not Taken” consists of four stanzas. Each stanza comprises five lines. The rhyme is strict with the rhyming scheme ABAAB, except for the last line. It is written in iambic tetrameter.

Setting

The setting of the poem is “yellow woods.” It is a place where one road is divided into two. The yellow color depicts the autumn season. The road is in a deserted place because there are no other travelers. The speaker standing at the junction sees that one road is gassier than the other.

Speaker

The speaker of this poem has no name and identity. There is no depiction of the physical appearance of the speaker. It represents the whole of human nature. Human nature wants life to have meaning and purpose. The speaker of the poem is a traveler who comes up with an important decision to make.

Symbols

The crossroads symbolize the journey of life. It also signifies the destination. People come across decision- making moments that contain equally balanced alternatives. One has to consider the advantages and disadvantages before making a choice.

Literary Devices in the Poem

Alliteration

Alliteration is the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a series of words at a stressed syllable. In the second stanza, the sound /w/ is repeated in “wanted wear.” Similarly, the sound /f/ is repeated in “first for” in the third stanza.

Assonance

It is the repetition of identical vowel sounds in successive words. In this poem, assonance contributes to establish the rhyme of the poem and make it easily readable. “Looked down one as far as I could,” “as just as fair,” “it was grassy and wanted wear,” and “ages and ages” are all examples of assonance. 

Connotation

Connotation means the secondary meaning of the word. The primary meaning of “The Road” is a path that a person travels. Its secondary meaning is of “choice.” The presence of two paths/two choices gives the feeling of indecision to the speaker.

Consonance

It is the repetition of consonant sounds at the start, middle or end of the words. “Yellow woods,” “to where it bent,” “then took the other,” “wanted wear,” and “knowing how way leads on to way” are all the examples of consonance.

Metaphor

This whole poem is an extended metaphor. The two roads act as a metaphor for two choices in life. The thinking of the speaker about the selection of one road is also a metaphor used for thinking before taking a decision.

The yellow color of the woods is also a metaphor. It is compared with the moment when a person has to choose the downfall of his life or when he is getting old.

Personification

Personification means to attribute human qualities to nonhuman things. Personification occurs in the second stanza when the speaker says that the road was grassy and “wanted wear.” By saying that the road has a “better claim,” the speaker states that the road intends to attract travelers.

Imagery

For most of the poem, the speaker is describing the setting. Visual imagery is used because the speaker is sketching the scenery. He says that the road is yellow which creates a mental image of trees shedding leaves in autumn. The worn-out state of the road also contributes to the meaning of the poem. There is auditory imagery as well by using the word “sigh.”

Irony

The irony in the poem is in the idea of multiple significance of the road. They are not simple roads because they have a secondary meaning as well. The speaker of the poem has to take the road of the majority or the road with fewer travelers. The eventual choice of the speaker is also ironic. Both the roads are equally worn out but the speaker still chooses the second.