Page 10 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Unit 1: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Notes
Did u know? “The Road Not Taken” is a lyric poem which means that the poem presents
the feelings and emotions of the poet rather than telling a story or presenting a witty
observation. Henry Holt and Company published the poem in 1916.

1.3 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 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.

1.3.1 Explanation

The poet stands in the woods, considering a fork in the road. Its fall and the leaves are turning
colours. There are two ways which are equally overlaid with un-trodden leaves and are equally
damaged and shabby. The poet is unsure about the path he wants to take as he wishes he could
go both ways. He then looks at both the ways and finally selects one, planning to take the other
path some other day despite knowing that he may never have the opportunity to do so. He
admits that someday in the future he will claim that he took the less-travelled road and that his
decision was final.
Line 1
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
In this line, the poet describes a fork in the road. The yellow colour of the woods indicates
that it’s possibly fall and the leaves are turning colours. The word “Diverged” used in this
line is another word for split. There’s a fork in the road.
Lines 2-3
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood

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