Poem #5: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

The Poem: The Road Not Taken

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 marked 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. 

About the author:Robert Frost was born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California and died on January 29, 1963. He was an American poet. For his realistic depictions of rural life and his speeches, he was highly regarded. His work mostly employed settings from rural life in New England in the early 20^th Century. He was born to journalist William Prescott Frost Jr., and Isabelle Moodie.


Personal Response:
             The poem, "The Road not Taken" by Robert Frost, is an interesting poem. The narrator comes upon two paths while walking through a yellow wood considering both paths are equally great and appealing. He chooses one road and wishes he will be able to come back to the same two paths so that he will then take the other road. However, his wish will not happen because he will never come across the two paths. His decision of path had lead to other double paths in the road, also known as other decisions.
             To me, this poem has reminded me of the time when I had to make a decision on whether to take this class course or the other. I thought I could take the other course later with the same teacher, but the teacher left and I could not take the course of the teacher I wanted to take. I felt regrets and I was sad because I heard that the teacher is a great teacher with good sense of humor.
              I like how the poet gave described the situation the character was in. This poem relates to the quote: “But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.” written by Stephen R. Covey. Both of them talks about choices they had made. The world will have a time where they will have a choice to make whether to believe in God and Jesus Christ or not to believe and help out Lucifer/Satan.


TP-CASTT:
TITLE: When I look at the title, it gives me an idea about a road not taken in which the narrator in the poem is regretting about it. I hope this poem will give a moral lesson of some sort.


PARAPHRASE:There were two paths that was divided in a yellow wood,
However, I could not travel both
I am a one traveler, and stood
And observed one as much as I could
Until where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then observed the other one the same,
To see if it was a better deal,
The reason of being grassy and wanted wear;
Even if it was for to pass there
They were not much different,

They both was not used in the morning
Because no steps had trodden in the leaves.
I would keep the first path for another!
Yet knowing how one path would lead to other paths,
I doubted if I could come back to the same path.

I will be telling this to someone
After many long years passed
About the two paths that I had to choose from in a wood,
and how I took the one less traveled by,
And that has created all the difference to my life.


CONNOTATION: (Formal Analysis)
1. Structure - 4 stanzas, Rhythm Scheme (A,B,A,A,B,C,D,C,C,D,E,F,E,E,F,G,H,G,G,H), Meter - TROCHAIC Pentameter, Punctuation - periods, commas, and semicolons. Parallel Structure.
2. Speaker - the person taking the road, Audience - future people that will cross these two roads
3. Figurative language - metaphor, simile. It compares the two roads. 
4. Imagery - Sight (yellow, two roads)
5. Repetition - none


ATTITUDE: Writer’s tone
The writer's tone seemed to be regretful, sad, discouraged, and helpless. Think complexity: The tone shifts according to each stanza.

The tones are all in the last stanza.


SHIFTS:
1st Stanza - It talks about when he stopped in the two roads.
2nd Stanza - Compares the two roads.
3rd Stanza - Talks about there is not much difference between the two roads.
4th Stanza - He regrets taking the road he had chosen.The first 3 stanza talks about the two roads. The last stanza talks about how he regrets taking the road he had chosen.


TITLE: When I read the poem the second time, I realized that the poem is about the narrator encountering two paths that are similar, in which he had to choose one and regrets for not taking the other one. When he wanted to comeback to the same two paths so that he can try the other one, but it will never happen because the path he chose had many other forks on the road.


THEME:
1. Make the right choice.
2. Making good decisions are important.
3. Making bad or wrong decisions leads to negative consequences.
4. Choose the path whichever you think is right.
5. The decision you make may change your life.

References (APA-6):
Frost. R. (2010). The Road Not Taken. Website. Retrieved from                     http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/poems/528