Contrast that with the generally misunderstood meaning that you should take the road less traveled. Essentially this poem is a wise joke to a friend about just picking a path and not looking back. He wrote a poem and sent a draft to Thomas. To prove a point, and poke a little fun at his friend, Frost decided to help his friend out. Thomas often expressed regret for taking the wrong path. On their walks they would frequently come to forks in the road, requiring that they pick a path to go down. Prior to this poem being written, Frost and his friend Edward Thomas, another poet, would frequently go on walks together.
HE ROAD NOT TAKEN ANALYSIS FULL
By better understanding the full context around an idea, the truth of an idea becomes more apparent.īut that is not the full story. In context of the entire poem, The Road Not Taken appears to say that we have a tendency as people to embellish the past and make our choices seems more grand and noble than they actually are. Taking the path less traveled is in fact a lie. 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.ĭo you see it? This is not a poem about taking new and adventurous paths. Then, he makes his choice and takes the second path – knowing that he can go back another day and do the other, but realizing that will likely never happen. So far this is a very different story than the familiar stanza isolated by itself. The fact that these two paths are about the same is further emphasized here. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Note how it is described as being “just as fair.” Then he goes on to describe how it was more grassy and wanted wear, but digresses admitting that they were both “really about the same.” Essentially, both of these roads are the same.Īnd both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.
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, He stands there for a while and looks down one of the roads. 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 Ī person arrives at a fork in the road. Rather than isolate a single stanza, let’s look at the entire poem to better understand its meaning. This might feel a little bit like high school english, but I think your time will be well spent. This is not because of the famous line, or the poem as a whole, but because of the lesson reading it taught me about the importance of context. When I read the whole poem, The Road Not Taken became one of my favorite poems. I was familiar with the famous stanza mentioned above - it was printed on the back of the book. The Road Not Taken was one of the first poems I read in the book. Except that poem isn’t really about what most people think it is about.Ī few years ago I purchased a book of Robert Frost poetry. It serves as a slogan for trying new things and accepting challenges. You may have seen it printed on a calendar, graduation invitation, a t-shirt in a travel gift shop, or embroidered and framed at your grandma’s house. The line is from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
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