The Road Not Taken

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.
(1915)



It is probably one of the best-known poems in literature. It deals with the dilemma existing in one’s journey, both literally and metaphorically. The thing that really catches my attention is the title – ‘The Road Not Taken’ instead of ‘The road I took ‘or ‘The road I traveled by’. The last sentence ‘And that has made all the difference’ does not suggest any positive or negative influence of that choice. If that particular choice is neutral to him, why did he choose the road not taken as the title? To me it seems that he is dropping some hints of remorse. It actually makes the poem more enduring.

The shift of tenses is also worth noticing here. For the first three stanzas, simple past tense is used to describe a particular dilemma came up when he was travelling in woods, yet he does not mention his final decision. For the last stanza, he uses mixed tenses by first imagining his future when recalling the dilemma and tells us that he eventually did make the choice. Although the reasons and the consequences of the decision remains unknown, it actually resembles the choices we make in our own life’ journey.













The road less traveled by’ by Linda Paul

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
(1922)



The persona is traveling in woods and is suddenly fascinated by the snowy scenery. Although he didn’t describe the environment in details vividly, the magic is that it leaves plenty of room for us to imagine what breath-taking scenery could make him so spellbound. The atmosphere must be tender and tranquil, and he alone is riding the horse in snow. I think the song’s melody can really bring me to the imagined woods and feel the overwhelming natural universe.

The most impressive point of this poem is the meaning of the last stanza. On one hand, he expresses the allure of perfectly pure nature, on the other hand, something far more important than admiring the enchanting nature makes him keep on traveling. It is true those travelers are not always as carefree as people think. Everyone in the society their own responsibilities to carry, like being a student, an employer, a son/daughter, a husband/ wife or even a father/ mother. We are never really free of roles and responsibilities.

One possible interpretation of this poem is that his desire to devour the beautiful dark woods is meant to be put away in front of his hectic but meaningless life. A strong sense of helplessness is suggested at the last two repetitive lines. This poem nicely links up the loneliness of a bound traveler and the overwhelming beauty of nature.

At last, I would like to say that the journey he has in woods can be compared to a part of our real-life’s journey. How many times did we stop by beautiful encounters, yet we did not stay longer because of certain ‘promises’ or responsibilities ahead of us?